


Dodge and Burn

by beersforqueers



Series: Zukka End Game Series [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Porn, Attempt at Humor, Awkwardness, Boiling Rock, Break Up, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Hate Sex, M/M, Making Up, Mildly Dubious Consent, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Suki is a wonderful person, Western Air Temple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-13 05:45:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5697250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beersforqueers/pseuds/beersforqueers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko runs back into the Gaang at the Western Air Temple, and must regain their trust even after breaking Sokka's heart in Ba Sing Se. The presence of 4 of Sokka's exes doesn't simplify the matter.</p><p>Sequel to "Of Love, Unintentional Threesomes, and Sokka"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This came about faster than even I had anticipated, but the comments on the last chapter of the previous story were so great that they got me excited. So here is your first installment of what I've been calling in my head "The Sokka the Kicked Puppy Fic". Prepare for emotionally stunted Zuko and extremely stubborn Sokka. 
> 
>  
> 
> Title taken from the Dead Weather's latest album, because Jack White is my hero.

Sokka had a lot of confusion associated with the Western Air Temple. Namely, how the fuck the airbenders had managed to build it, because the whole damn thing was hanging upside down underneath the edge of a cliff. He got the whole airbending thing that made getting to it doable, but the reality of the actual construction process seemed impossible. He and Teo spent a good hour upon first arriving discussing this while Katara grumbled about no one helping her unpack, Aang ran around with the Duke like the children they were, and Haru, Toph, and Jet all rolled their eyes at one another. Sokka was halfway toward remembering why he’d been into Teo in the first place when Haru’s boredom clearly reached a critical tipping point.

Trying to avoid the uneasy feelings rising up as he watched two of his exes wander off in the company of his current fuck buddy, he turned back to Katara and Aang, who were in the middle of an argument about whether or not finding Jeong Jeong was feasible. Around the time Aang inevitably ceased to be a fan of the conversation and decided that aerial acrobatics were the solution to their predicament, Sokka decided that he needed a goddamn nap.

By the time Zuko showed up, he decided he had probably taken the nap, sleep walked off the side of the temple, and was currently in hell. He wasn’t really sure what he’d done to get there, but clearly something really, really bad.

His stomach was in so many knots that not even meat held appeal right then. Zuko looked… well, Zuko looked like he always had. Stiff, incredibly awkward, hot in that adorable, irritating, haughty way of his. His hair had grown out since he’d last seen him, a shaggy mop that he scooped back out his face nervously as he faced them. His jaw was set, but Sokka could see the tremble in his hands, the anxious slide of his eyes as he tried to decide who to focus on first. They were all sunk into defensive positions, ready for an attack that was starting to look less and less likely to arrive.

Sokka hated himself for the backflips his heart was doing, his blood rushing so frantically in his ears that he almost missed the beginning of Zuko’s dumb speech, obviously poorly rehearsed for minimum effectiveness.

“Hello…” he waved halfheartedly. “Zuko here. I, uh, I know that you probably don’t want to see me.” His eyes slid to Sokka’s face and then skipped away again. “Actually I know that you _definitely_ don’t want to see me. But, um, I’ve just…” Appa lumbered over, sniffed Zuko perfunctorily, and proceeded to give him a welcoming full-bodied lick. To Zuko’s credit he was only momentarily sidetracked, but Sokka felt Aang relax beside him. He looked around at him, and was horrified to see that he looked more thoughtful than vengeful. _Get with the vengeful, Aang_ , he silently chided. “Well, I’ve been through a lot since you last saw me. I’ve grown a lot, and changed, and I’m good now. Really good, not like before, and I think I should join your group.”

White-hot rage ripped through Sokka, and it was only Toph’s hand bunching in the back of his tunic that kept him from charging forward to murder Zuko. He didn’t seem to have noticed, on a roll with this terrible monologue he was so intent on giving.

“I can teach you firebending!” Zuko practically shouted at Aang, who was still looking traitorously torn. _We only have room for one traitor on this balcony Aang, and we’re all looking at him_ Sokka thought sternly.

Predictably, it was Katara who responded first, “Why the hell should we trust you? Do you think we’re stupid? Did you think that showing up here with your lame ass speech about being a changed man would actually work?” _Thank you, Katara!_ “You’ve been hunting Aang for years, you betrayed us, you…” she glanced over at Sokka, and the “you broke my brother’s heart” hung unspoken in the air.

Zuko flushed, and Sokka felt a pang because _Shit, he always used to blush before we—Don’t go there, Sokka_. “I haven’t been all bad! I let Appa go free in Ba Sing Se!” On cue, Appa licked him again, nuzzling him in a way that couldn’t be described as anything but friendly.

“Yeah, Appa is really into him,” Toph pointed out. Sokka and Katara looked at her incredulously.

“Somehow, the opinion of the air bison doesn’t seem like it should be a deciding factor, Toph,” Sokka spat. His voice sounded thin even to his own ears. He chanced a glance at Zuko, who quickly pretended he hadn’t been staring while Sokka was looking away.

“Listen, I’ve—“ Zuko turned pleading eyes on all of them, and Sokka suddenly couldn’t breath. “I’ve fucked up, ok? I’ve fucked up over and over again, so many times, I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all of it. I shouldn’t have attacked your village, or betrayed you in Ba Sing Se, or…” _crushed your heart like a lady-beetle_ , “sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. It was wrong. I regret it all now. I’m trying to stop—“

“You fucking asshole,” Sokka ripped his boomerang free from his belt, “You sent Combustion Man after us?” He let out a disbelieving laugh. “Why am I even surprised? Why am I surprised by anything you do anymore?”

“Aang,” Zuko turned away from Sokka, and he once again couldn’t help the way the gesture tore through him. “You once said we could be friends,” his voice cracked a little on the last word. “Please.”

Aang turned to look at them, but his eyes found Sokka’s and held. Sokka could see the battle waging inside them, could see what was winning, but _no_. Aang was his friend above all else, he couldn’t do this to Sokka. He couldn’t let Zuko back in after everything that had happened, especially with the defeat so fresh in Sokka’s mind and heart.

Aang looked back at Zuko, “We can’t trust you. Not after what you’ve done to us.”

“I’m not that person anymore!” Zuko protested, but he already looked defeated. He looked at Sokka, a last ditch plea, “You know I’m not that person anymore. I swear.”

“Fuck you,” Sokka hadn’t previously known that his voice could hold that much malice, and dayum, he was sort of proud of himself. He sounded fucking scary. He’d be prouder if he didn’t also feel like vomiting all over himself.

“If you can’t take me as a friend,” Zuko dropped to his knees in front of them, in front of Sokka, and held his hands out in submission, “maybe you can take me as a prisoner.” For a moment Sokka wanted it, wanted it so badly it hurt. The sight of Zuko on his knees for him was the worst kind of déjà vu, the sort that made his vision almost blur with the intensity of it. He wanted Zuko held prisoner, see how he fucking liked it, feeling trapped and useless and abandoned by Sokka.

But instead Katara sent a blast of water at him that made him stagger back. “Get out of here!” she shouted. “Don’t you ever come back! Stay away from my family, my friends, my brother! I better not see your face here ever again!”

The look of bitter disappointment on Zuko’s face was hard to watch, but he left. Watching him walk away cut deeper than Sokka wanted to admit to himself.

 

***

“Why am I so stupid?!” Zuko paced back and forth in his campsite. The badgerfrog was suspiciously silent. “Just walking in like that? Thinking they’d take me? Telling them I sent that assassin after them?” he gripped his hair tight in his fingers, so frustrated he could barely think. And gods, he felt raw, exposed, humiliated. Not from Katara or Aang or Toph, but from Sokka. He collapsed onto the ground, wrapping his arms around his bent knees.

Sokka.

What had he been thinking? That Sokka would have forgiven him somehow? That Sokka could have taken his attack in the caves any way other than personally? Because in retrospect of course that was how it looked to him, was how it had been. Zuko had been deluding himself into thinking that maybe, just maybe, Sokka could understand why he’d done it. Sokka knew so much about family and honor and duty, was by far a more honorable man than Zuko, and Zuko had held onto a tiny portion of hope that Sokka had considered those and come to terms with Zuko’s decision.

He had been so fucking wrong. About Sokka’s response, and about his own feelings about it. Ever since he’d gotten back to the Fire Nation all he’d done was agonize and try to come to terms with what he’d done, but he’d avoided thoughts of Sokka like the plague. Every time he turned to tell him something funny he’d thought of, or when he woke up hard and aching and reaching for him in the dark, or when he sat in a meeting and knew how fascinated Sokka would be by the strategy talk, he’d shut himself down so fast it should have made his head spin.

Suddenly that little box of Sokka feelings was threatening to burst open. _Fuck you._ There had been so much pain in his voice, in his face, but even more than that, so much incandescent rage, something that bordered horribly on hate. _Stay away from my brother_ , because of course they all knew. This just compounded the perfidy, the fact that he’d hurt Sokka. There hadn’t been enough time to explain, they hadn’t _let_ him explain, and now, he realized belatedly, they never would have let him anyway. Sokka didn’t want to hear about how he was a changed man—he’d seen it all before, had believed it long before anyone else, and Zuko had broken that trust. Splintered it into tiny pieces and burned it with that first fire blast he threw at the avatar.

“What have I done?” Zuko buried his face in his hands. The badgerfrog croaked dolefully at him.

 

***

 

“I can’t believe him!” Katara fumed, stomping past where Sokka was standing, propped against one of the giant columns. “How dare he show up here, spewing such bullshit! After everything he’s done!”

“That’s how he gets you,” Sokka said quietly, crossing his arms tighter to hold his chest together. “He lures you in and gets you to trust him, and then _bam_! It’s a trap!”

“I fell for it, too, Sokka,” Katara stopped pacing and looked at him seriously. “He told me about his mom and he looked confused and upset and I believed him. I wanted to feel bad for him, and then he made his decision.”

“You guys,” Aang said softly, and they all turned to look at him. “I have to tell you something. About when Zhao captured me. And!” he held up a hand to Sokka, “before you say anything about your throatal flap, I know what you said about the frogs giving you warts! The point is that when Zhao captured me, it was Zuko who set me free. He nearly died to save me.”

“It was a ruse!” Katara snapped. “He wanted to catch you himself. For his honor,” she sneered.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Aang muttered, looking dejected. Sokka’s heart went out to him, but they couldn’t afford that kind of softness right now. Zuko was out there, maybe plotting again, and Sokka wanted to track him down and beat him up, and kiss him, and he wanted him tied up and on his knees… Ok, that had gotten real sidetracked real fast.

“He wasn’t lying about Appa, though,” Toph piped up. “I mean, think about it. You guys know him pretty well, right?” she refrained from looking directly at Sokka, but he knew what she meant. “You know about his fucked up family and stuff. All things considered, we’re lucky he’s not a raving psychopath. He could be way worse.”

“Oh great, yeah, he deserves a fucking award!” Katara began, but Toph carried on right over her.

“I mean, I know you and Zuko were butt buddies, Sokka, but do you honestly think that your hurt feelings are more important than saving the world?”

“That’s not what this is about, Toph!” Katara rose to defend him. “He betrayed us! All of us!”

“So you’ve blinded yourself to what’s real now!” Toph shouted back. “Aang needs a firebending teacher, and Zuko can do it. Everything he said was genuine—he _is_ sorry, and he _does_ want to help us! You’re just too angry to see it!”

“But—“ Sokka spluttered, incensed.

“Think about how fucking brave he was, wouldya?” Toph spat. “Even after all the shit he pulled, _knowing_ how you’d probably react, he still came back. To do the _right_ thing.”

“For the first time in his life,” Katara snorted, and Sokka nodded in agreement. Zuko probably wasn’t brave, just stupid. It was no surprise he’d betrayed the Fire Nation, that was obviously what he did. Just went around breaking hearts and, and, betraying people, and being a _traitor_. And then he had the nerve to crawl back to them and think he could be a part of the Gaang? No fucking way.

“I don’t want him as my teacher,” Aang said.

“See?” Katara said to Toph, and her tone would be smug if it wasn’t so angry. “That’s that.”

“Who’s actually blind in this fucking argument?” Toph snapped. With a huff, she turned on her heel and walked away.

 

***

Sokka was angry. Maybe the angriest he’d ever been, although he knew that couldn’t possibly be true. Apparently the argument they’d had the day before didn’t matter, or the fact that Zuko had burned Toph’s feet to hell, or what Sokka’s opinions were as Zuko’s recently dumped ex-boyfriend. Save them from one assassin that he’d hired in the first place, and suddenly he was in the Gaang. And Sokka didn’t even get credit for stunning Combustion Man with his boomerang. There was no justice in the world.

Well, he couldn’t deny all culpability here. When Katara had glared but acquiesced to what Aang felt was right, Sokka had firmly decided to stay out of it. He wasn’t going to veto Zuko, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to be voting yes, and he said as much to Aang. Never mind that Zuko was standing right there with the fucking gall to look hurt by the words. In the end he got what he wanted, and, because clearly Aang hated him, Sokka got stuck showing Zuko to his new room.

Aang had gotten this impossible-to-resist look on his face that clearly said _Make nice, you’re stuck with him_. Sokka didn’t have to like it, but he also didn’t have to be nice. _See Aang? I can be stuck with him and also be unhappy about it_. Needless to say, the silent march to Zuko’s room was among his top most-awkward moments of his entire life, and that included the time Suki had kissed him while he was wearing a dress.

“So, uh, Teo’s here. And Haru. And Jet,” Zuko said. Said _conversationally_ , like he didn’t also sound sullen about it. Like he had any goddamn right to be offended by the presence of a million people Sokka had boned.

“Yeah, they are,” Sokka pushed open the door to the room they’d chosen to give him. It was pretty far away from where the rest of them were sleeping; he figured Zuko would appreciate the silence and the ability to hide from all of them. To hide from Sokka, since he clearly had no desire to be near him anymore.

“Uh, how’s that been?” Zuko followed him into the room.

“You’re kidding, right?” Sokka asked. “Why the fuck do you care?”

Zuko’s chin rose, doing that thing it always did when he got scared and defensive. He probably didn’t even know he was doing it. “I don’t,” he mumbled.

“Good. You gave up the right to give a shit about anything I do back in Ba Sing Se,” Sokka snapped. And then he turned tail and ran, choosing to ignore the aggrieved expression etched across Zuko’s face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait and make this part of a longer chapter to be posted at some ephemeral later date, but I reached a sort of natural conclusion to it and figured you guys deserved the update sooner rather than later. My gift to you for reading and commenting and feeding my ego.

Zuko was serving everyone tea, and Sokka felt sick. Not the usual “dear gods, please stop giving us tea, I will burst” type of vomit-y; more along the lines of “this tea smells like memories and I _cannot_ have anything to do with it”. This knee jerk reaction had manifested as Sokka skulking around the edges of the firelight’s circumference, watching Zuko putter around pouring tea with a decidedly Iroh-like affect. He even made an attempt at a joke that had everyone giggling good-naturedly. Sokka rolled his eyes. Zuko never had been terribly funny, although he’d usually laughed at Sokka’s better ones. His laugh was oddly mellifluous, a low, wry chuckle that always seemed to take him by surprise.

Sokka leaned up against a column and watched as Zuko turned fully away from him, bending down to hand the teapot to Toph. Sokka flushed, forcibly reminded of the first time he’d seen him in Pao’s tea shop. That ass just wouldn’t fucking quit, and even when he was angry at its owner, it still drove him to distraction.

Zuko handed a cup to Teo, and Sokka wasn’t sure whether or not he was imagining the way Zuko stiffened as their eyes met. Teo, completely oblivious, smiled blithely and murmured thanks, bending his head closer to Toph as she spoke. Zuko turned back, eyes flashing dangerously, then pulled up short when he saw Sokka standing in the shadows.

 _Now or never_ , Sokka thought grudgingly, and jerked his head at Zuko. To his surprise, Zuko followed as he stepped further into the darkness.

He’d had this thought for a few days now, and unfortunately Zuko was the only person who had any chance of putting his fears to rest. Even though the thought of standing in close proximity with Zuko made him itchy all over, he stopped and waited until Zuko drew near. He hung back a bit, looking unsure, wrapping his arms around himself protectively. He looked wary, and Sokka supposed he couldn’t be faulted for some degree of self-preservation instinct. Sokka had yelled at him last time they had any kind of meaningful interaction.

“For gods’ sake, just get over here,” he finally hissed as Zuko’s indecision bordered on obnoxious. He glared extra hard to stamp out the brief flare of hope that crossed Zuko’s face.

“What’s up?” Zuko asked, keeping his voice considerately low.

“When our invasion failed, some of our troops were captured,” Sokka said, forgoing any niceties. “Where would they be taken?”

“Sokka…” Zuko said, his voice carrying warning. “You don’t want to know.”

“Don’t tell me what I want, Zuko,” Sokka snapped. Zuko flinched a little, but his voice was strong when he replied.

“It’s not a good answer. They probably went to the Boiling Rock.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s the highest security prison in the Fire Nation,” Zuko explained, “It’s on an island. In the middle of a boiling lake. Inside a volcano. No one has ever escaped.”

“Ok,” Sokka turned this information over in his head. He could work with that, right? “So where is it?”

“Sokka…” Zuko repeated, sounding resigned. “It’s between here and the Fire Nation. You flew past it on your way to the temple. But don’t do anything rash, ok? Please, for m—I mean, just don’t.” He looked oddly flushed in the dim light from the moon and distant fire.

“Me? Rash?” Sokka laughed shortly. “Never. I don’t have anything planned, jerkbender. Stop being paranoid. I just wanted to know.”

“Yeah, sure,” Zuko said, not sounding even a little bit convinced.

 

***

Sitting on the back of a sleeping sky bison waiting for his ex boyfriend to show up was not how Zuko wanted to be spending this night. He’d hoped to be sleeping, for one thing.

It was taking long enough that Zuko had just begun reflecting on whether he’d misjudged Sokka when he heard the unmistakable sounds of approach.

“Shhh,” he heard Sokka whisper to Appa, who snuffled and then shifted, sinking back into sleep. Zuko grimaced. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to this thing, even if it seemed to like him. The top of Sokka’s head crested the edge of the saddle, and then he scrambled into it with an ungainly wobble.

“Still not planning anything, Sokka?” Zuko crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at Sokka.

Sokka jumped and glared at him, “So what? You caught me. I’m gonna go rescue the war prisoners. Happy now?”

“I’m never happy,” slipped out before he could stop it. It was a bald faced lie, and he and Sokka both knew it. Sokka glowered at him. Ok, so maybe he’d taken that the wrong way. It didn’t, however, deter him from continuing to talk.

“I have to go,” Sokka said sulkily. “The invasion was my plan and it was my fault it failed and they got captured. I need to get my honor back.”

“Your honor?” the words tugged at something deep in his gut. Sokka was one of the most honorable people he knew. “Fine. I’m coming too.” He hoped that his voice brooked no opposition. Sokka’s honor was important, but Zuko was horribly aware of the fact that he had lost his when he’d fought Katara and the avatar in Ba Sing Se. He needed to regain that just as much. And if he managed to get back some of Sokka’s trust, that would be good too. “But we’re taking the war balloon.”

“Whatever,” Sokka sighed, and clambered off of Appa’s back.

 

***

“So, who’d you piss off by coming here? Besides, ya know, the Fire Lord,” Sokka was lounging back against the side of the basket. Something about it reminded Zuko of Jet in a way that made him distinctly uncomfortable. He’d noticed him prowling around, chatting idly with Teo and Haru or arm wrestling with Toph, but he frequently disappeared for long periods of time. Probably avoiding Zuko, except that those absences tended to coincide with Sokka disappearing as well. Not that Zuko was paying special attention to Sokka during firebending practice, but when he wasn’t there watching Zuko noticed.

Maybe it was the prickly voice at the back of his mind asking _What are they doing together while you’re busy?_ that made him snap out his answer, “Well there was Mai.”

Sokka froze, still slouched insouciantly, but Zuko could see tension in every line of his body. _Oh shit._

“Mai, huh? The, uh, ex-girlfriend?”

Zuko colored in spite of himself. He hadn’t been sure what to say to Sokka about this, hadn’t really wanted to address it, had thought that maybe in some far distant future where Sokka had forgiven him it might be discussed. He hadn’t intended to let it slip because his anger got the better of him. Still, some cruel part of him wanted Sokka to be jealous. _Only because you’re jealous of Jet_ the voice unhelpfully reminded him.

“The ex-ex-girlfriend. Who’s now my ex again,” he mumbled.

“Wait, what?” Sokka sat up, brow furrowing.

“We, um,” Zuko pretended to focus on shooting more fire into the tank to give himself a second to think, “got together again. When I was back.”

“Ah.”

He chanced a glance at Sokka. His lip had curled into a mean smirk. “I see. I get it.”

“You get what, Sokka?” he turned to look squarely at him.

“Why you left. I was always the ‘other woman’, right? You wanted to get back to Mai the whole time, and you took the opportunity. Figures,” he shrugged. “So tell me,” his voice rose a little, and it was crueler than Zuko knew Sokka was capable of, “how was she? Was she as easy for you as I was?”

Zuko was appalled, “It wasn’t, it wasn’t _like_ that, Sokka. And don’t talk about her like that.” Mai hadn’t done anything wrong here. It wasn’t like she’d known what she was in the middle of. Zuko hadn’t told her about Sokka.

“Did she even know about me?” Sokka could obviously read his mind. “Your fucking, what, mistress? You gonna have another butt boy on the side when you marry her and make your mopey little fire babies? Someone to scratch that gay itch of yours?”

Zuko’s mouth fell open. He’d never seen Sokka so angry, not even when he’d mentioned how many of _Sokka’s_ exes were at the temple. He was so busy shaking his head that he forgot for a moment that he should be fighting back.

“What about you, huh?” he finally managed, brain grasping at the only thing he could think of that compared. “What about you and Suki? Did you break up with her before you started doing me? Does _she_ know you fucked Jet?”

“You don’t know anything about that,” Sokka said. “It’s never been exclusive with Suki, on her side or mine. You’ve heard of the Kyoshi warriors, you know how they operate.”

“Were we exclusive? Was that what that threesome with Jet was about? Us being _exclusive_?”

“You wanted that just as much as I did!”

“Yeah, at least I didn’t make out with Jet without you!”

“You said that was fine! You didn’t care at the time!”

Zuko didn’t really know why he was dragging this back up right now; Sokka was right, it didn’t matter and he hadn’t cared, but gods damn it, he cared _now_. Now that it definitely didn’t matter anymore. What Sokka did was no business of his.

“I don’t care, Sokka,” he spit. He almost wanted to laugh at how much the lie shone through, but he didn’t have to, because Sokka did it for him.

“Oh really? Clearly that’s why we’re fighting about it right now. Maybe if you’d had this kind of passion when you were with Mai, you wouldn’t have needed me too.”

“Believe me, she was more than enough,” Zuko spat. Let Sokka choke on that. Never mind that it wasn’t true—sex with Mai was good, but she was impossible to please, and she never got really into it like Sokka did.

He wasn’t expecting that to be the final blow to Sokka, though. He looked like Zuko had smashed him over the head with a frying pan. Zuko backpedaled fast, “I didn’t mean that, ok? She…she’s not… it was nothing like with you.”

Sokka slumped back against the side of the basket again, all the rage evaporated. He wouldn’t look at Zuko.

“Forget I said anything,” Zuko muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“None of that was enough to make you stay,” Sokka mumbled, and it was so quiet that Zuko knew he hadn’t been meant to hear it. He wouldn’t have known what to say to that even if it had been directed toward him. But when he turned back to fire up the tank again, something caught the corner of his eye.

“Sokka.”

“What, jerkbender??”

“We’re here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill with typos/grammatical and syntax errors! If you find one, give me a shout out, cause I tend to just churn through these and post them as fast as possible. I'm notoriously impatient.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been inexplicably churning these out... I'm just not gonna question it and pray to the writing gods that I finish the whole thing while I've still got the creative juices flowing!

There was a door. Sokka would not have guessed that their way into the highest security prison in the Fire Nation would be through a back door, but he wasn’t complaining. Zuko, however, was.

“If I ever make it back to the Fire Nation, I swear to god…” he was muttering, poking at the melted remains of the lock, “shoddy security, bunch of ingrates…” he trailed off into barely intelligible curses.

“Yeah, well shitty security works for us right about now,” Sokka said. “Let’s try this way. We need disguises. And also light.”

“What do you want me to—oh, right,” Zuko fumbled with the door for a second and pulled it shut, then crept up beside Sokka. His hand reached out, grabbing onto Sokka’s arm to orient himself, and the other rose, cupping a small flame.

“Let go of me,” he pried Zuko’s fingers from his arm.

“I didn’t want to burn you,” Zuko said, affronted.

“Yeah, well it’s hot enough down here without you making it worse,” he turned just in time to see the corner of Zuko’s lips quirk up. “Ugh, you know what I mean!” Sokka stomped off down the corridor, Zuko in his wake, flame throwing hugely distorted shadows across the walls. Every time they passed a door Sokka tried it, crowding up to the frame to peek through the crack before opening it all the way. Storage, storage, more storage…

“A ha!” he crowed, flinging the fifth door open triumphantly. “Guard storage!”

The room was full of uniforms. Racks hung along both walls, supporting boots and helmets, tunics and trousers, and even a very helpful shelf stacked with fresh undershorts. Zuko eyes the helmets dubiously.

“Talk about hot,” he picked one up gingerly and slid it on. “We’re going to roast in these things.”

“But hey, at least your bad eye is covered up,” Sokka smiled sweetly. “No one can identify you as their asshole princeling.”

Zuko shot him a filthy look and took off the helmet, turning to the pants. “These should fit you,” he yanked a pair down and threw them at Sokka.

“You remember my size,” Sokka checked the waist. “How romantic. Didn’t know you were really concerned about the tailoring every time you—“

“Give it a fucking rest already, Sokka!” Zuko threw a bunched up tunic at him. “If we’re stuck here we shouldn’t be fighting all the time. We need to be a team.”

“Teams have to trust each other, jerkbender.”

Zuko apparently didn’t have a reply for that. He just sighed dramatically and began to shuck off his pants.

Sokka wasn’t looking. That would be creepy.

“You gonna go for the standard issue underwear too?” Sokka wrinkled his nose.

“Might as well,” Zuko pulled down a pair and held them up for inspection. “If we end up sleeping here the other guards will see us undressed at some point.”

“Great,” Sokka muttered. He pulled off his own pants and tunic, stuffing them behind a shelf. At least he had spares back at the temple. And it was sort of a relief to peel off the layers. Water Tribe cloth was made for maximum heat retention, not breathability. Even though their design talents were for shit, at least the Fire Nation uniforms didn’t make him sweat like a stuck walrus-pig. When he turned back around to grab a pair of prison panties—as he decided he would now be referring to them—he caught Zuko staring.

“What?” he looked down at himself. He was naked, yeah, but it wasn’t like Zuko hadn’t seen that before. He realized, a little belatedly, that Zuko was also naked. Fucking typical. He was a teenage boy after all, and their sex life had never been a problem in their relationship. Any surprise boner action was gonna be completely impossible to hide in this scenario.

“You’ve, uh, bulked up a bit,” Zuko said weakly. “And you have some new scars.”

“Rock fall,” Sokka said, deciding that the first few seconds of their hasty truce wasn’t the time to tell him that the cut across his back was Zuko’s fault. “And I was studying with Piandao for a while. Some of the discipline stuck I guess.” He contained his pride. He _had_ been working out more, so it was gratifying to have someone other than Jet notice. Katara just rolled her eyes whenever she caught him flexing to himself.

“Piandao?” Zuko looked surprised, and unless Sokka was much mistaken, impressed. “He taught me,” he looked down at the shorts still clutched in his hands and blushed. He stepped into them, not looking at Sokka. “You look good,” he said, obviously mortified.

“…right,” Sokka said, grabbing the closest pair that looked like his size and fleeing back across the room. They finished getting dressed in silence.

 

***

So Suki was here. And this vile place dealt with firebenders by throwing them into giant metal freezers to rot, but more importantly: _Suki was here_.

It had taken surprisingly little convincing to make Zuko keep watch while Sokka ventured into her cell. He hadn’t been happy, but then brooding was Zuko’s natural state of being, and it wasn’t Sokka’s job anymore to overanalyze why he was so crabby all of a sudden. It didn’t hurt that he had a strong sense of vindictive pleasure at making Zuko listen to their reunion, eclipsed though the feeling was by his shame at feeling it at all.

 _Shut up, you’re mad at him_ he told himself sternly. _Let him know how it feels for once._

Ok, so maybe not taking off his helmet right away wasn’t a great idea. But hopefully getting shoved violently up against the door of her cell would make Zuko think they were passionately embracing, and hey, once she recognized him that wasn’t that far off the mark. He had to admit that having an armful of Suki again was pretty damn nice.

“What are you doing here?” Sokka asked, petting her hair where it brushed against his cheek. She smelled so nice. Shit, he’d missed girl-smell.

“They separated me and locked me up here because I lead the Kyoshi warriors,” she said, her voice a little muffled by his shoulder. She drew back, smiling wetly at him.

“I’m gonna bust you out,” he said determinedly.

“I knew you would. I’m so happy to see you,” she stroked a hand up his arm, feather light, drawing him closer.

Kissing her was like a breath of fresh air in the stale cell. She was soft and sweet under his hands, pressing him firmly against the metal of the door even while he grabbed her around the waist to pull her flush against him. Her arms came up to twine around his neck, and…

There was a lot of scuffling and loud thump that made the metal door rattle.

“Shit,” Sokka breathed against Suki’s mouth. She backed away, grabbing his helmet hastily. She pressed it into his hands, staring up at the small window sunk into the steel. “Thanks,” he turned too, grabbing at the door handle and yanking it open. Luckily Zuko had diverted the guard. Sokka shuffled sideways away from the door, trying not to look suspicious.

“Guard! There’s an imposter!” the female guard looked up from under Zuko’s arm wildly. “Arrest this fucker!”

“Right!” Sokka made a beeline for them and grabbed Zuko roughly, throwing him to the floor. “You’re under arrest!” He dragged him up again by the wrists, leaning forward to whisper, “We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

“How was your girlfriend?” Zuko whispered back, and he probably wasn’t feigning the look of anger on his face. _Good_ Sokka decided. Or maybe not-so-good, considering their current position, and the fact that Zuko was a highly recognizable Fire national.

“She’s, uh, good. We didn’t really, you know…” Sokka trailed off, “talk.”

“Got it,” Zuko’s voice was carefully composed.

“Let’s just get down to booking,” Sokka grumbled. “This day can’t get much worse, right?”

 

***

 _Why does Sokka always say such dumb shit?_ Zuko bemoaned. He didn’t really care about mopping—he’d done some chores on the battleship after all. It was doing them with Suki that was onerous. Not because she wasn’t lovely, but more because, well, because she _was_. Which made it both incredibly easily and hard to hate her.

Right now it was mostly uncomfortable.

“So remember that time you burned down my village?” were the first words out of her mouth.

“Uhhh…” he floundered.

“I’m totally fucking with you,” she said cheerfully. “You’re with Sokka, so I have to assume you’ve turned your life around.”

“I have!” he said, his eagerness earning him a doubtful look. “I mean, I honestly have. And I’m sorry. Was anyone hurt?”

“No, besides some burns,” she shrugged. “It was fucking awful, but Kyoshi has seen worse.”

“I’m glad everyone was all right,” he said quietly.

“Huh,” she stopped mopping and looked over at him appraisingly. “You’re an odd one.”

“What?”

“You’re just so serious,” she said, shrugging. “Not quite the evil mastermind Sokka made you out to be before.”

“Sokka would know better than anyone,” Zuko said ruefully.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” she knocked her mop against his to make him look up at her. “What was _that_?”

“What?” he asked again, baffled. She had that look on her face that always made him want to hide in a hole when Mai wore it.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said, and then relented at his look of complete confusion. “What happened with you and Sokka?”

“Nothing,” he said defensively, and far too quickly, if the way her eyes narrowed was any judge.

“Listen buddy,” she stepped in close, “I’m not a fan of drama. If there’s some heavy stuff going on in Sokka’s love life, I’d like to know sooner rather than later so I can gracefully bow out before shit gets real. I’ve been in prison for months. I do _not_ need that noise.”

“Um,” was Zuko’s very articulate response.

Suki sighed, “Start from the beginning and work your way to the present.”

By the time Sokka showed up, blew their cover to Chit Sang, because Sokka, and completely failed to recover because _Sokka_ , Zuko was feeling good enough about Suki to theatrically roll his eyes at her behind Sokka’s back.

“Oh no,” Sokka waved his hands at them in alarm, “you two are not friends already. That’s just bad. No way. Nope. Sorry. Not happening.”

“It’s ok, Sokka, we can talk later,” Suki smiled brightly before shouldering her mop and walking away.

Sokka looked at Zuko, panic-stricken. “What did you say to her? What does that mean?”

“I really have no idea,” Zuko said calmly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this feeling that you guys are gonna love this one...

Getting Zuko out of the cooler should have been no problem. It would have been no problem if it weren’t for Sir Tsungi Horn deciding that the corridor of coolers was exactly the right place for an extended practice session.

Zuko yanked Sokka hurriedly through the door at his approach, slamming it shut behind him. Sokka pressed his ear against the freezing metal to listen, then recoiled in disgust.

“Amateur,” Zuko said dryly. “Not half the player Uncle is.”

“Are you making a joke?” Sokka asked.

“Maybe,” Zuko said edgily, crossing his arms.

“The world is a strange place,” Sokka walked over to him and held out a hand. Zuko dropped the stash of bolts and screws into his palm. He looked at them for a moment and smiled, thinking about what it would mean to him to free Suki, even if it meant Chit Sang had to come along. It would make all of this worth it.

“What are you thinking about?” Zuko asked quietly.

“Suki,” Sokka said unthinkingly.

“Ah,” Zuko said, exhaling a little gust of flame. Sokka watched it fizzle out in the cold. Come to think of it, he was starting to shiver. _Man up, you’re Southern Water Tribe_.

“You know, about freeing her. And us, too, of course. So that this field trip isn’t pointless.” Zuko was silent. Sokka didn’t know why he felt compelled to keep talking, “It’s not gonna work out with her,” Zuko’s head whipped around to stare at him, “she said something when I came to get her out of her cell. I don’t think I ever expected it to—she’s gonna go back to Kyoshi, and I couldn’t settle down there after everywhere I’ve been with Aang—but it was good while it lasted. It used to give me something to look forward to before I met—“ he drew up short. _Before I met you_ didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to say to someone while locked in a small enclosure with them for an indefinable amount of time.

Especially with Zuko looking at him like that. If Zuko’s two eyes could do what Combustion Man’s weird head-eye-tattoo-thing could do, Sokka would be fried to a crisp, their gaze was so intense.

Instead of saying anything related to the tension crackling between them, Zuko said, “You’re cold.”

“What? Oh, yeah, I guess,” he chattered.

“Come here.” Apparently his facial expression conveyed his alarm enough that Zuko sighed. Gods, why did he have to be so put-upon all the time? _No one_ **asked** _him to be a fucking martyr_ Sokka thought uncharitably. “Calm down, Sokka, you just need someone to keep you warm.” Zuko folded himself efficiently onto the floor and held out his arms. “Lap. Now.”

It seemed imprudent to disagree with him, since his extremities were rapidly turning blue. Plus, like, rude. Zuko wasn’t offering his body, just his warmth. They had a truce. Suki didn’t want to date him. He was supposed to be putting aside petty feelings.

That didn’t make his stomach swoop any less dramatically when he tucked himself against Zuko’s chest. Ordinarily comparing himself to other guys made him feel pretty insecure, but right now he was thrilled that Zuko was taller than him; it meant there was more Zuko to wrap around him. It was a bit harder now that he’d packed on his own muscle, but Zuko radiated warmth to a degree that was pretty damn helpful at the moment.

He slid his hands between them, palms flat on Zuko’s chest, trapping his arms so that they were protected by the cocoon of their bodies. Zuko’s thighs were warm against his back, his knees hitting his shoulder blades, hands on his upper arms. It was oddly impersonal at the same time as it was intimate, and Sokka was having a hard time reconciling the two. He didn’t trust Zuko as far he could throw him, not with his heart, not with his life, but that didn’t stop him from wanting him. It was a shitty thing to realize right then, when he couldn’t get the fuck away from him to deal with it on his own.

“What are you thinking about now?” Zuko’s voice was gratifyingly shaky. It made Sokka’s insides quiver and writhe. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t get points from the others for puking on the inside of their getaway vehicle.

“Nothing.”

“Liar,” Zuko smoothed his hands down Sokka’s arms, down his sides. His breath stirred the hairs at Sokka’s temple. His lips were really close, Sokka thought. He closed his eyes and leaned back a little, away from the warm cradle of Zuko’s body. The first brush of lips across his forehead didn’t surprise him, but the fact that he allowed it did. Zuko pressed a gentle kiss to his temple, to his brow, to the curve of his cheekbone, to the corner of his mouth. His lips parted without his permission, and he tilted his face up. Zuko’s lips were hesitant at first, deepening into a more thorough kiss when Sokka didn’t pull away.

It was sweet and chaste and made Sokka’s head swim in a way that was so good it sort of hurt, hurt deep in his chest, burning like fire, like…

“No!” he shot up out of Zuko’s arms, slamming into the door of the cooler. Zuko was sprawled out on the ground, lips red and chapped, breathing hard, his eyes wide and vulnerable.

“Sokka—“ he reached out, looking anguished, but Sokka shoved away from him, turning to press his suddenly hot face against the metal door. He didn’t want that from Zuko, he couldn’t want that, that was bad and dangerous and Zuko was just going to leave again, he was just going to break his heart and fuck everything up, and how _dare_ he be sweet with him? How dare he pretend like he cared after he left and everything went to shit and Sokka’s life fell apart all over again. He noticed dimly that the tsungi horn had stopped outside.

“Sokka,” Zuko said, louder, at Sokka’s shoulder, but now Sokka was pressing his ear to the door for a different reason.

“Shut up,” he smacked back at Zuko’s chest, and Zuko caught it, curled a hand around Sokka’s wrist, pressed a kiss to his palm. Sokka wrenched it away, turned, and punched Zuko square in the face. He barely took the time to relish the look of shock and pain on Zuko’s face before he was back against the door again.

“…robbers, a couple of traitors, some war prisoners,” a female guard was rattling off. “The gondola comes in at dawn.”

Sokka slumped against the metal. The female guard was telling Sir Tsungi Horn about a new shipment of prisoners. War prisoners.

“Your father?” Zuko said in a stifled voice. Sokka looked back; he was probing a split lip with two cautious fingers.

“Could be,” Sokka said, mind racing.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t _know_!” Sokka said, lashing out at him again, so frustrated he couldn’t think anymore. It was too much, too much pressure, too much fear, and here was Zuko looking both resigned and aggrieved, like he knew he’d just asked for too much but was pissed at Sokka all the same. “How do I risk all of our freedom on the tiny hope that my dad’s coming. How do I ask that of all of you?”

“Ask anything of me, Sokka,” Zuko said quietly, holding a piece of torn uniform to his bleeding mouth. “I’ll give it to you.”

“Just what I need,” Sokka said, and he opened the cooler door. The guards were gone. “A prince with a death wish and a savior complex.”

Zuko snorted, “At least I didn’t punch you in the face.”

“You deserved it.”

“Believe me, I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...was I right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My computer keeps trying to autocorrect "Sokka" to "sock"... this has led to some sort of problematic typos. So, um, let me know if there are any sentences that REALLY don't make sense. If Zuko gets turned on by socks, I think I'd rather not know that about him.

Zuko hadn’t expected everything today to go according to plan, but he hadn’t thought that their contingency plans would need to account for the sudden appearance of his ex girlfriend wanting to fight about the particulars of their break up.

“All I get is a letter?” she brandished it in his face. “You didn’t even have the decency to look me in the face when you broke my heart?”

Zuko blanched. This was hitting a little too close to home on several fronts.

“Mai, I didn’t—“

“Didn’t what, Zuko? Mean to break up with me?” she unfolded the letter and began to read from it, “’I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but I’m leaving. The last few months with you have been amazing, but I’m not the man you think I am.’ What does that even mean?” she crumpled the letter in her fist.

“It wasn’t about you, Mai, it was about me and the Fire Nation!” Zuko really wished he wasn’t tied up right now. This felt like a conversation he should be having on his feet.

“That makes me feel all better,” Mai said sarcastically, throwing the balled up letter at him. It bounced off his chest and landed in his lap. He looked down at his words where the paper was starting to unfurl. _…other things I need to take care of..._ _…hope you can understand… …don’t know if we’re right for each other…_ All veiled attempts to end things before he made it back to Sokka. He hadn’t thought of it that way at the time, but in retrospect, maybe he’d left her the note to tie up loose ends. Sokka was wrong; in his heart, he felt like he hadn’t cheated on Mai with Sokka, but on Sokka with Mai. She deserved better than that.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said, and it was completely honest. “You deserve better than what I can give you, especially when I’m trying to save our country!”

“It’s up to me to decide what _I_ deserve, Zuko,” she said coldly. “And you’re a traitor to your country.”

“That’s not how I see it,” Zuko said. He was so sick of being called a traitor, of being reminded how many people who felt like he’d betrayed them over the last few months and years. All he wanted now was to fix it with the people who mattered most. Iroh, Sokka, the avatar… and maybe Mai should be on that list as well. “We need to end this war, Mai. It’s destroying us. I not the person I’m meant to be because I’ve been so blinded by anger and distrust. I need to—“

“Regain your honor?” Mai sniffed.

“Yeah,” Zuko said.

“So this is your latest crusade,” she sighed.

“It’s not like that,” Zuko tried again. “It’s—“ he pulled up short, not sure how to characterize it.

“There’s someone else, isn’t there?” she sighed again.

“How did you—“ he would have slapped a hand over his own mouth if he’d had one free to do it.

“Oh Zuko,” she rolled her eyes, the picture of resignation. “The whole time we were together you were so mopey. It didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t just your usual flavor of brooding. I’ve seen guys mooning over people before.”

“I wasn’t mooning!” Zuko said, injured. “I was just—“

“Sighing all over the place, turning around and looking surprised to see _me_ in your bed, making weird jokes that didn’t make sense,” she ticked them off on her long fingers.

“Don’t talk to me about sighing,” Zuko muttered.

“That was a low blow to the girl you just broke up with,” Mai pointed out.

“Sorry,” he said. “I am, though. Really sorry.”

“I know,” she said. “That’s what makes this even worse.”

 

***

Fighting beside Sokka had felt so good. Lying on the floor of Azula’s stolen airship, fighting to get their breath back as they escaped from the prison felt even better.

“That was…” Sokka panted.

“…a close one,” Suki finished.

“Well done, son,” Hakoda boomed from the back of the ship. “I’m so proud. Thank you for getting us out of there.”

Zuko rolled onto his side to get a look at Sokka. He had the kind of dopey, elated smile on his face that he ordinarily got when confronted with large piles of meat, or a super great blowjob. Zuko really wanted to kiss him.

He restrained himself.

“Yeah, I was pretty awesome back there,” he said cheerfully.

“You were too, Zuko,” Suki said, leaning down to offer Sokka a hand up. Zuko scrambled up by himself, turning to Sokka’s dad.

“I’m not sure we’ve officially met,” Hakoda held out one giant hand. “I’m Chief Hakoda.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” he said formally. “I’m—“

“Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation,” Hakoda completed, enveloping Zuko’s hand in a crushing handshake. Zuko could feel the small bones of his wrist grinding together. “That was some fighting out there, son. I’m very impressed.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly. He looked over at Sokka, who was watching them with his arms crossed. He shot an angry look at his dad that Hakoda ignored.

“So how did you and my son meet?”

Zuko and Sokka looked at each other in horror.

“Umm…” Zuko choked out, “I sort of chased him halfway around the world looking for the avatar…”

“I know that part,” Hakoda smiled down at him, finally releasing his hand. Zuko flexed it slowly behind his back to regain feeling. “How did you come around to our side?”

“It was the right thing to do,” Zuko said, looking him straight in the eye. Hakoda nodded approvingly, “I needed to right past wrongs. Against your son and the avatar. I’m trying to make up for some truly terrible mistakes. I regret a lot of things that I’ve done, but regaining Sokka’s trust is important to me.”

“Good man,” Hakoda clapped him on the shoulder and reached over to ruffle Sokka’s hair. He squawked and batted his hand away to stop him from pulling out his wolf tail. Something in Zuko’s chest got hot and tight. He’d never had that kind of easy back and forth with his father, and watching Sokka and Hakoda made him realize how much he’d missed out on.

“Come on,” Suki said, nudging him with her elbow. “Show me how to fly this thing.”

 

***

The celebratory fire that night was louder than usual. Katara was practically beside herself at her father’s return, and even Chit Sang had found a place next to Jet, who was loudly extolling the virtues of gutting firebenders. Chit Sang, fortunately, looked entertained rather than offended. Toph had sidled up to Suki and was grinning smugly as Suki leaned in and gave a throaty laugh. Zuko would have been amused if he wasn’t privately disturbed by their age difference.

“Thanks for saving me earlier,” Sokka slid into the seat next to Zuko. “When I was sliding off the roof of the gondola.”

“I wouldn’t have let you die,” Zuko said. He looked down at his hands.

“I should make one thing clear, though,” Sokka said, and his voice had hardened. Zuko looked around at him. “Our truce is over now.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How Sokka is handling things...

His dad really liked Zuko.  
Hakoda had also settled in nicely at the Western Air Temple, spending time talking with Chit Sang about Fire Nation customs and swapping prison stories, carrying The Duke around on his shoulders while he explored the caves, and doing the heavy lifting so Teo could build whatever project he was working on for the day.  
But he was getting nosy about Zuko. And about Jet.  
Sokka felt extremely uncomfortable.  
Sokka was spending a lot of time lately feeling uncomfortable, probably all stemming from his concern that all of his exes were getting together to talk about him in private. He was on good terms with all of them, and every break had been pretty natural and mutual, but still… he could only take so much, and when all of the people who’d at some point had his dick in their mouths were collected in one place, it made for the most awkward convention ever.  
“So what’s the deal, Sokka?” Hakoda asked one day. They were sitting on the edge of the firebending ring Zuko had set up to spar with Aang. Sokka was starting to get used to the sound of fireballs whistling through the air, which disturbed him.  
“The deal with what?” he passed a whetstone to his dad and went back to honing the edge of his boomerang.  
“Zuko. He looks like he wants to claw Jet’s eyes out whenever they’re in a room together.”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sokka said indifferently. “You’ll have to ask Zuko.”  
“So Zuko isn’t acting like a scorned lover around your current boyfriend?” Hakoda asked.  
“Da-ad!” Sokka dropped his boomerang. “He’s right there,” he hissed.  
“So?” Hakoda was obviously enjoying this.  
“So he can hear us,” Sokka whispered.  
“He’ll only pay attention if you start acting like something’s going on,” Hakoda chortled. “So ‘fess up, son. What’s the gossip around these parts?”  
“I can’t believe I missed you,” Sokka thumped his head down onto his knees. “You are SO embarrassing.”  
“You wound me,” Hakoda said, but he was still laughing. At Sokka, his only son. Sokka felt distinctly aggrieved. “Come on. I’ll tell you about Bato.”  
“I don’t want to hear about Bato!” Sokka yelped. “EW!”  
Zuko shot him an inquisitive look over his shoulder, turning in a circle with Aang at its center so that he could shout instructions. Sokka did his best to ignore him.  
“Listen, it didn’t end well, all right? And the thing with Jet is just…” how the fuck was he supposed to explain this to his dad?  
“Physical?” Hakoda guessed.  
“Oh my gods, this isn’t happening,” Sokka moaned.  
“He’s a good looking kid,” Hakoda shrugged one large shoulder, “kind of a mess, mind you, but I could see the appeal were I a younger man. You know what you’re doing?”  
“Of course I do,” Sokka mumbled.  
“I just want to make sure,” Hakoda said calmly. “Zuko is a good kid, and he’s going to grow into a great man one day. And I’ve seen the way he looks at you. You could do much worse.”  
“I don’t trust him.”  
“Are you sure?” Hakoda raised his eyebrows at him.  
“What does that mean?” Sokka snapped.  
“Nothing!” Hakoda held up a placating hand. “It’s just that you didn’t seem to have any problems with leaving important plans up to him in the Boiling Rock.”  
“He’s betrayed me in the past, ok?” Sokka said. “Let it go, dad.”  
“I will if that’s what you want,” Hakoda nodded amiably. “But think about whether your hurt feelings are stopping you from taking advantage of something you really want. I believe that he’s changed. I’ve talked to the boy, and it sounds to me like he’s been through a lot, but knows what he wants now.” Hakoda accompanied his words with a meaningful look. “Think on that. Consider giving him another chance.”  
With that he stood up and walked away, pausing to give Zuko a pat on the shoulder. Zuko looked over at Sokka, his ears a little pink, but Sokka only glared at him. Zuko resumed yelling orders across the circle at Aang, but he still looked flustered.  
Sokka could only hope that he hadn’t heard that conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, how Zuko is handling things...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm just never gonna get over Haru's facial hair. I like to think that Zuko and Jet can both grow their own, and this is a fact that Sokka is acutely aware of and very unhappy about (because you know he totally can't).

They were _everywhere_. Zuko swore that each time he turned around, there was another one, and they always seemed to be talking to Sokka. Probably about him. They were probably laughing too. Gods, why was he touching his arm? He was making a pass at him. Zuko snarled.

“Zuko?” Aang’s concerned face floated into his line of vision. “I thought we were supposed to be shooting focused drills at a target. Is, uh, Haru the target? Cause, like, I think someone should warn him if he is.”

“What?” Zuko glared at Haru. _Oh yeah. Oops_ he thought dispassionately. Haru was standing stock-still, looking terrified, a large scorch mark visible on the wall next to his head. _Great, now Sokka’s pissed_. Sokka was indeed glaring right back at Zuko. “I just marked the target, see?” Zuko covered, gesturing toward the scorches. “Now you know where to aim.”

“Ok, cool!” Aang said, all enthusiasm again. “Haru, you might wanna move!”

Haru shuffled quickly out of the line of fire, dragging Sokka with him. _Don’t touch him, you Earth Kingdom scum. Can’t even grow a decent beard, can you?_ Zuko felt at his own chin. He’d shaved that morning, but hey, if Sokka was into… _You are acting like a prepubescent girl_ he reprimanded himself.

Aang began his drills. Zuko sank deeper into self pity.

Maybe they should start a club. What would they even call it? The “People Who’ve Boned Sokka” Alliance. Heh. And then they could all get matching sweaters and compare notes. “Hey, did you notice that he’s ticklish behind his left knee?” “Oh yeah, but only after he kneed me in the face during a blowjob!” _Cue canned laughter_.

“Was that ok, Zuko?”

“What? Oh,” Zuko looked at the ring of scorch marks around the one he’d set. “Lower your stance, you need to be grounded. Deep breathes, center yourself, try again.” Aang hit the target dead on. “That was better.”

“You’re a good teacher!” Aang said, and Teo, who was wheeling by, looked around and made a beeline for them.

“Hey Zuko!” he waved a hand in greeting. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Aang, 20 reps,” Zuko said, walking away to talk to _another_ one of them. Should they try to get Yue involved in this club? He glanced toward the sky. That would probably be impractical.

“What do you need, Teo?” it came out stiff and formal, but hey, at least it wasn’t outright hostile.

“I had some questions about the war balloons,” Teo said, and his eyes took on that animated cast that Sokka sometimes got when he waxed lyrical about suspension rigging or whatever.

“Ok…” Zuko said.

“How does this latest model handle? Before you went to the Boiling Rock I noticed that the Fire Nation engineers had added some really interesting features, and…” Teo prattled on about reinforced steel cables and improved landing technology, and suddenly Zuko could see quite clearly why Sokka had been so attracted to him. He was obviously incredibly smart and passionate, going through the intricacies of something physics-related while Zuko nodded along like he understood. Which, for the record, he definitely didn’t. He could talk strategy all day long with Sokka, even if Sokka had the inherent talent for it where he had only deeply ingrained training. But this… he’d never before felt the weight of his own stupidly this acutely.

“…so Sokka was saying that you guys didn’t really get that far while you were in Ba Sing Se, but we were placing bets, and The Duke had good money on Sokka talking you our of your clothes at some point—“

“What??” Zuko was brought back to earth with a crash.

“Ha! Cool it, man, I was kidding,” Teo said, laughing at the expression of mingled fury and mortification on Zuko’s face. “Just thought I’d try to get your attention back. You went off somewhere else for a while there.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “But hey! What was Sokka saying? How did you even,” he grabbed the handle of Teo’s chair and wheeled him so they were facing away from where Sokka, Jet, Haru, and Chit Sang had gathered to heckle Aang while Hakoda watched with amusement, “how did you even find out about us?”

“Dude, everyone knows,” Teo patted him on the arm in what was clearly meant to be a conciliatory manner. “You aren’t exactly subtle, and you’ve been really cranky with me and Haru and Suki. Not to mention Jet,” he blew out a long sigh. “I think if he wasn’t enjoying it I’d feel worse for him.” Zuko looked over his shoulder to see Jet smirking at him smugly. His face burned, hands curling into fists at his sides. “He just wants to get a rise out of you,” Teo said calmly. “That’s probably his fucked up way of defending Sokka for, you know,” Teo glanced away shiftily, “what happened.”

“What do you know about what happened?” Zuko asked.

“Not that much,” Teo held up his hands in mock-surrender, “but we’re fine, right? I like you, Zuko. You’re a good guy. I promise I’m saying all nice things when I’m with Sokka, for all the good that’ll do you. I don’t know what you did, but you better be prepared for a lot of ass kissing if you wanna get back in his pants. Or, you know, whatever you two are into.” He winked hugely and then reversed, spinning his chair around to race back toward the others.

Zuko glared at all of them, and Haru shrank back instinctively, edging his way behind Chit Sang like the firebender’s bulk could hide him.

Zuko rolled his eyes. _Idiot_.

 

***

He was, ironically, shaving when Haru found him a few days later. The air temple had withstood the hundred or so years since it’s last occupation surprisingly well, and the bathing rooms were no exception. The one Zuko used was long and rectangular, with troughs of water built into the far wall that crisscrossed down from the ceiling, spilling gently into one another until their streams met near the ground to create a long canal flowing down the center of the floor. The walls were mirrored, which made it much easier to pay attention while he slid the razor along the curve of his jaw, and warned him that he was being snuck up on.

He turned, pinning Haru in place with one look. He was concerned that Haru had just shit himself, but if he had, he recovered quickly.

“What do you want?” Zuko asked, turning back to the mirror. He wiped the last bit of foamy soap off his cheek and splashed water onto his face. He looked around for his towel, and Haru held it out to him. “Thanks.”

“I just wanted you to know that I don’t have a problem with you, man,” Haru said abruptly, practically tripping over the words in his haste. “I don’t want Sokka back or anything. It was a fling, ya know? Nothing serious, like, some hand jobs in the back of a quarry. No big deal. We’re cool!” he gave a dumbstruck Zuko a thump on the shoulder, then darted away, looking relieved.

“They think you’re going to set their rooms on fire,” came Suki’s amused voice from behind him. He wheeled around—when had _she_ arrived? Were they all planning on ambushing him? “I told Haru he didn’t need to talk to you, but he wanted moral support anyway.”

“Wuss,” Zuko snorted. That was just ridiculous.

“You are sort of intimidating,” Suki said. “But they both like you just fine. Teo and Haru, I mean,” she clarified. “Even if Haru looks like he’s gonna piss his pants every time you so much as walk by him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zuko said.

“You need to talk to Sokka,” Suki sighed. “I get that you had your little truce or whatever while you were in the Boiling Rock, but obviously that’s over. And we’d all appreciate it if you’d stop being such a dickhead.”

“I’m not being—“

“Yes, you are,” Suki interrupted him. “No one but you wants to get back together with Sokka, you idiot.”

“What about Jet?” Zuko bit out.

“Oh,” Suki chewed her bottom lip, looking like she wasn’t sure how much to say, “Let me amend my previous statement to ‘you _really_ need to talk to Sokka’.”

“What about Jet?” Zuko repeated.

“Zuko,” Suki sighed. “Katara and Toph and I are vastly outnumbered here, and frankly I’m choking on the testosterone. Either go have an actual conversation and talk about your feelings, or go bash Jet’s head in. Or whatever you men do when you feel threatened. Just stop lashing out at people who haven’t done anything wrong. Katara’s had to make Haru start washing his own underwear, and I have a feeling that’s got nothing to do with his usual personal hygiene.”

“Shows what you know,” Zuko said. Suki laughed.

“And once you make nice you should offer to lend him that razor,” she eyed it speculatively, “or maybe I should just shave him in the night. He looks ridiculous.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... uh...... well I did tag explicit sex... and hate sex... so yeah...

Right. Talk to Sokka. That had to be a positive alternative to whatever it was they were currently doing. Zuko strode through the temple. He was pretty sure Sokka usually hung out on the other side of the cliff to practice his “swordbending”.

 

***

“He wants me to talk to Zuko!”

“So why don’t you?”

“Because!”

“Because why, Sokka?”

Sokka glared at Jet. He was using a small knife to trim his nails, and he looked rather bored. “I have the feeling that you are not being as supportive as you could be, _Jet_ ,” he whined.

“You don’t generally come to me for ‘support’,” Jet pointed out.

“Well I am now!”

“No you aren’t,” Jet rolled his eyes and put away the knife. “You’re here to bitch. Which is fine, but if you want advice, you need to shut up for a minute.”

“All right, mister wisdom, give me your advice,” Sokka crossed his arms and looked at Jet defiantly.

“You _do_ need to talk to Zuko,” Jet said. “Hold on! Let me finish!” he held up a hand to stop Sokka, “Entertaining though it is to have your boyfriend wishing me dead, I think we’ve accomplished the original plan. You pissed him off. He’s jealous. Good job.”

“Yeah, go team!” Sokka said with false brightness.

“Exactly,” Jet nodded. “I like you, Sokka, but I think it’s time for me to move on.”

“Move on to where?” Sokka deflated.

“Don’t pretend like you care,” Jet snapped. Sokka recoiled. Jet shrugged one shoulder, and said with more restraint, “Look, it’s all good. Whatever. You’ll miss a sure thing, I get that. I’ll probably head back to Ba Sing Se, find Longshot and Smellerbee, get a real job, find a nice girl,” he smiled at Sokka crookedly, “Do the whole thing.”

“I’ll miss you,” Sokka said. He walked up to Jet slowly, running his hands across his shoulders. Jet closed his eyes, shaking his head. “No, really,” Sokka caught Jet’s face between his hands, “I will miss _you_. Not just sleeping with you. That was good too, though.” Jet huffed out a low laugh.

“I could throw you one more,” he said, opening his eyes. The look in them made Sokka shiver.

 

***

Sokka wasn’t doing swordwork, he wasn’t in his room, he wasn’t with the benders in the practice area, and he wasn’t helping Teo, Hakoda, and The Duke patch up a window on the airship.

Zuko stared around the courtyard he’d found himself in. There was one other person he hadn’t run into this whole time.

Oh no.

 

***

“Yeah, right there!” Jet was good at lots of things, but eating him out had to be one of his all time favorites. It wasn’t something he’d thought of back in Ba Sing Se, and consequently he hadn’t tried it with Zuko, but _shit_ , they’d been missing out. Jet’s tongue licked over his hole, fucking in with short thrusts, and Sokka’s hips stuttered unevenly in time, his thighs clamped around Jet’s ears. He was dimly concerned that he was going to strangle him, but at least Jet would die happy if he did. The noises he was making seemed to indicate he was enjoying this just as much as Sokka.

“Fuck!” Jet pressed one finger in, and it slid easily into him up to the knuckle. Jet pulled back, planted a messy kiss to the inside of Sokka’s thigh, and watched him writhe through heavily lidded eyes.

 

***

He heard them before he saw them. It was pretty unmistakable, and he wondered if this was why Jet had chosen a sleeping area so far away from the others. Sokka could get pretty loud.

He edged around the corner, not sure what made him go closer instead of turning to run in the opposite direction. It wasn’t self preservation, that was for sure.

He looked. He couldn’t help it—he’d come this far. It felt like some kind of fucked up perversion of their time in Ba Sing Se, a strange role reversal where he’d become Jet, and it must be him, Zuko, over there on the floor with his face buried between Sokka’s thighs. He saw a flash of pink, Jet's tongue darting out, the slick motion of his fingers as they fucked in and out of Sokka, his lips parting as he licked around the rim.

His chest tight, he closed his eyes, opened them again, hoping it would stop, but no, they were still right there.

 

***

Jet was pretty sure they had company. Sokka, bent in half beneath him, hadn’t noticed anything, too busy fucking himself onto three of Jet’s fingers to be particularly aware of their surroundings. Jet couldn’t blame him, especially when he reached up and wrapped a hand around the back of Jet’s neck, pulling him up and in for a sloppy, openmouthed kiss.

Jet pulled his fingers out and shuffled forward, grabbing Sokka around the backs of his knees. Sokka giggled before refocusing on flinging them over his shoulders, tilting his hips up so that Jet could slide in more easily. Jet grabbed hold of his waist, letting out a truly obscene noise as he bottomed out.

Well, he’d always been good at putting on a show, and if Sokka noticed that he was acting more debauched than usual, he didn’t complain.

And considering that Zuko hadn’t interrupted them yet, clearly he wasn’t complaining either.

 

***

It was hot. Zuko had to admit that, even with the bile in his throat threatening to come up all over the tile floor. It also made him so angry he couldn’t move, but that was ancillary. He too mesmerized to focus on the rage boiling up in his stomach, the sense that this was _wrong_ , that Jet needed to get his fucking hands off of Sokka, because Sokka was _his_ boyfriend, and he hadn’t consented to this, he hadn’t told Sokka it was cool to cheat.

The rational part of his brain was trying to take over, to exert control, because _Nope, Sokka isn’t your boyfriend, and this isn’t cheating, and he and Jet have every right to be fucking right in front of your eyes. You’re the freak for standing here watching_.

He told his feet to move. They didn’t pay any attention.

“Fuck yes, there, harder, yeah,” Sokka babbled, moans practically pornagraphic, hands grasping at Jet’s ass, which was flexing as he drove into him faster, fingers pressed hard into the muscles of Sokka’s thighs. They were clenched tight, straining with the effort of holding Sokka in this position, and Zuko hadn’t known he was so flexible. Hadn’t known he’d be interested in bottoming, either—Zuko had always been way to into it to think of asking Sokka if he wanted to get fucked, but now he knew. Gods, what did it feel like to be buried that deep inside Sokka?

 

***

“Fuck, I’m gonna come,” Sokka let go of Jet’s arm to get a hand around himself, and it didn’t take much, a few hard jerks at best before he was coming all over himself. “Keep going,” he mumbled, going loose and pliant, looping his arms around Jet’s neck. He didn’t mind getting fucked after, kind of liked how overwhelming it was to still have something inside him, liked that it turned Jet on so much. He always got hyperfocused when Sokka came first, like he’d beat him to the prize and he needed to catch up.

Sokka was already half hard again by the time Jet came, spilling into him with a shout. He supposed that was the beauty of being a teenager—the incredibly brief refractory period.

“Shit, you ready to go again?” Jet pulled out and collapsed next to him. Sokka gingerly lowered his legs, stretching them to work out the kinks. He was probably gonna have bad knees as an old man, but sue him for liking it on his back.

“Ugh, probably shouldn’t,” Sokka rolled over onto his side, tapping Jet on the cheek when he looked over Sokka’s shoulder toward the wall behind him. Jet returned his attention to Sokka, leaning in to kiss him softly. “I should go clean up.”

“Yeah,” Jet sighed into him, tongue dragging across his lower lip. “Or… I could blow you. One last time.”

“Well when you put it that way,” Sokka laughed. “Hand me something to clean up with first?”

“On it,” Jet fished around behind him and came up with his belt.

“God, how many of these have you gone through?” Sokka eyed it. “Cause if it’s the same one, it taken a beating. A yucky sex beating.”

“You may never know,” Jet grinned, wiping off Sokka’s stomach. He kissed Sokka again, yanking him upright. “Close your eyes.” He was gone, back on his knees, spreading Sokka’s thighs. He shuddered, still sensitive when Jet’s tongue flicked over his slit.

“Jet,” he whined. Jet chuckled around his dick, and the muffled sound of it went straight to the pit of his stomach. He opened his eyes, wanting to watch, but instead of looking at Jet, he inexplicably glanced across the room.

Right at Zuko.

 

***

He was caught, and yet he still hadn’t moved. He was questioning every life choice he’d ever made that had led him up this moment.

“What the fuck??” Sokka jerked up, shoving Jet back roughly, grabbing at his pants. He yanked them up over his legs, trying to cover his still hard cock. “Zuko, what’re you—how long’ve you—“ he looked down at Jet, and from the look of anger and shock on his face, he didn’t like what he saw there. “You _knew_ he was there?” he looked appalled.

“We put on a good show, eh Zuko?” Jet looked around at him, still spread out naked on the ground, his taut muscles tensing as he contained a laugh. “Hope you enjoyed it.”

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Sokka shouted at him, finally succeeding in getting his pants up. He elbowed Jet away, throwing him a filthy look. “What’s wrong with _you_?” he grabbed Zuko by the shoulder, dragging him into the hallway. He looked back at Jet, immobilizing him with a vicious glare, “Don’t you fucking dare come near me unless you want the pointy end of Spacesword.”

“Sokka, I—“ Zuko tried, following him down the hall. His head was spinning, the anger still simmering low in his gut, but momentarily supplanted by embarrassment.

“What?” Sokka spun on him, jostling him up against the nearest wall. He pinned him there with a forearm across his chest, their faces inches apart. “What explanation could you possibly have for watching us while we—“

“While you fuck?” Zuko’s voice sounded disgusted, brutal, not like his own. “While you let _Jet_ fuck you?”

“Why do you _care_ , Zuko?” Sokka wailed. His face was twisted with an emotion that wasn’t quite anger. Closer to pain. He sounded desperate. “Why watch? What could you possibly get out of that? Are you a masochist?”

“Apparently,” Zuko spat back, pushing back against Sokka’s body, but he was unyielding. “Or maybe it’s because I love you, you asshole.”

Sokka went paper white, releasing Zuko abruptly. He backed away, looking hunted. “Don’t say that,” he whispered.

But now that it was out there Zuko didn’t want to stop saying it, “I love you.” He jabbed Sokka hard in the chest. Sokka looked down at it wildly.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Sokka,” Zuko reached out anyway, and for the second time Sokka hauled off and punched him. He reeled back, hit the wall, hand clutched to his cheek. _Fucking hell,_ _that_ **hurt**. “Stop _doing_ that,” he yelled.

“Stop _saying_ that!” Sokka yelled back.

“I love you,” Zuko screamed, pushing back toward Sokka, driving him against the other wall of the corridor. “I love you,” he got all up in his space, and Sokka heaved at his chest with both hands, knocking him off balance, sending him sprawling onto the stone floor. He landed on his elbows, wincing, staring up at Sokka, who was breathing hard.

“I hate you,” Sokka said, but then he was on top of Zuko, and Zuko caught him, hands on bare skin, smoothing down Sokka’s shaking back, dragging him closer. Sokka’s lips parted against his and Zuko shivered too, because he’d missed this so much, missed Sokka. He felt just like Zuko remembered, smelled like he’d remembered, like snow and evergreen.

Sokka’s hands tore at his clothes, and Zuko let him, let him strip off his pants and rip open his tunic. Sokka’s hands spread his thighs, and Zuko expected him to do something truly filthy, to spit on his hole and slick a finger inside, to push into him without warning, to make it hurt, to fuck him into the ground like a punishment they both wanted. He wasn’t expecting Sokka to prop his cock up and sink down onto it, still loose and open and slick from Jet, and fuck, Zuko didn’t want to think about that, but it lit something afire in his chest.

He rolled them over, grabbing Sokka’s legs like Jet had, hooking them up over his elbows while Sokka braced himself on the floor, fucking in, in, again and again until he was filling Sokka more completely than anyone else ever could. Something cemented itself in his chest, sinking into place with a sharp finality, an immovable object diverting the course of his life to account for _this_ moment.

He came first, thrusting into him jerkily, unable to hold out any longer. He pulled back, still spurting, making a mess, but he wanted Sokka’s dick in his mouth. Sokka’s fingers twisted painfully in his hair, pulling him down onto his cock, fucking up into his mouth, coming on a shout almost the moment Zuko opened his throat for him.

Zuko sucked him through it, licking him clean, pulling off to nuzzle gently at the soft skin of Sokka’s inner thigh. He inhaled the musky scent of Sokka, pressed a kiss to his skin, wished he could brand it there so Jet knew he'd been there. 

Sokka froze.

“Get off me,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument.

“Sokka…” Zuko rolled off, reaching for his pants. He felt a horrible plummeting sensation in his stomach. “Sokka, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t talk to me,” Sokka pulled his pants back on. Zuko looked up at him beseechingly. “Don’t even _look_ at me,” Sokka said, voice low and oddly flat. “I can’t stomach you right now.” He jerked his pants on, grabbed a tunic—Zuko dimly realized that was _his_ tunic—and hared off down the passageway.

“Fuck,” Zuko buried his face in his hands and gave himself over to an entirely silent panic attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I think I need Jesus.
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. Updates will probably slow down, cause for some reason my parents want me to go back to college, and, like, finish my degree. I think employment is probably overrated, though, right? I can just write dirty fanfic for a living, right? That's a thing people do? RIGHT?
> 
> P.P.S. If I WERE to start writing some little ficlets as a part of this series, but sort of free-standing, would y'all be into reading those? Zuko and Sokka as parents? Random porn? Zuko meets Gran Gran? etc. etc. etc. I would seriously love some prompts if you'd be willing to give them in the comments!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this one is sort of rough because I just wrote it and wanted to get it out there right away to you guys, so sorry if it isn't the best ever. 
> 
> But hey! That being said, emotional shit is getting aired out! The end is in sight! YAY!!!

Sokka was getting really sick of being attacked by Azula. He could only imagine how it made Zuko feel.

Like right now. He was probably terrified, considering that he was plummeting toward the earth. Sokka could understand that: his heart was in his throat as Aang urged Appa in a nosedive. Sokka leaned out of the saddle, grabbing at him, aware of Katara at his side doing the same thing.

His hand connected and he wrapped fingers around Zuko’s wrist, hauling him up into the saddle beside him. He slumped against the side, breathing heavily, and pushed his hair back with a shaking hand.

“You saved us,” Sokka gasped, poking Zuko in the shoulder. “Again.”

“You saved me,” Zuko pointed out, similarly winded.

“Yeah, I did,” Sokka half smiled, staring down at Zuko. This was the closest he’d been to him since their fight, and he realized belatedly that he was still holding Zuko’s wrist. He dropped it and rolled away, trying to shove down his mingled disappointment and relief. Relief at having left Jet with the others, disappointment at—what? He had no idea. This was a clean break for them, and if he never saw Jet again in his life, it might be too soon. He really was a massive asshole. _Because of his unrequited feelings for you_ his brain unhelpfully supplied. _Speaking of unrequited…_ he glanced back at Zuko. Zuko was staring at him. _Shut up brain!_

“Go talk to him,” Suki said in an undertone, nudging him with her elbow. Toph was cuddled into Suki’s side, idly tracing patterns on the hem of her tunic with a fingertip. She seemed to sense Sokka staring and shot him a shit-eating grin. He scowled.

“Isn’t she a little young for you?” he hissed back at Suki.

“Oh definitely,” Suki shrugged. “Nothing’s going on.”

Toph’s grin only widened in a way that clearly conveyed the _Yet_ she wanted to tack onto the end of that sentence.

Sokka groaned and scooted away toward Katara and Aang, which was hardly a better situation.

“That was some amazing flying, Aang!” Katara was glowing at him.

“Oh, er, well, you should really thank Appa,” Aang stammered, but his cheeks had flared an unmistakeable pink. “But thanks, Katara. You were really brave too, you—“

“Oh my gods,” Sokka sank back next to Zuko. “This is fucking gross.”

“Uh, yeah,” Zuko glanced at him anxiously, then away again. “Super gross,” he mumbled. He’d bent a tiny ball of fire and was fidgeting with it, rolling it back and forth between his fingers.

They lapsed into awkward silence. Suki was giggling at something Toph was saying, and Toph looked extremely pleased with herself. Katara and Aang were practically cuddling. The wind was howling loud enough to drown out both conversations.

“So…” he stretched out, legs spreading to crowd up against Zuko, arms flung out over the edge of the saddle. Ok so maybe this _looked_ like he was pulling the old stretch-n-hug thing, but he swore he was just stretching, “…what have you been up to?”

“Since you told me not to even look at you ever again?” Zuko asked. “Mostly pouting. What about you?”

Sokka stared at him, and then a shocked laugh broke free. Zuko jumped. “You just made another joke, didn’t you?”

“So what if I did?” Zuko really was pouting now. “I can be funny.”

“Yeah, and Appa is half chihuahua-goat,” Sokka said. “You usually let me be the funny one.”

“And look how far that’s gotten us,” Zuko said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“My joke game has been strong lately!” Sokka insisted. “Just because you haven’t been around to hear it doesn’t—“ he realized what he was complaining about and stopped short, letting them lapse back into awkward silence.

Zuko pulled away from Sokka’s sprawling form, drawing his knees protectively up against his chest. He sighed, looking at Sokka almost shyly from beneath his lashes, “Look Sokka…” Sokka opened his mouth to interrupt, but Zuko glared him into submission.

“I don’t know how to talk about this with you. I barely know how to explain. I don’t know if you want to hear it, or what you want to hear even if you do want me to talk to you about it. I want you to forgive me, and I want to forgive you for not trusting me, and after the other night…” he blew out a long breath, “I want to forgive you for fucking Jet, even though I don’t have any right to be mad. There’s so much _hurt_ happening right now, I just—“ he tugged at his hair in frustration at words that didn’t seem to want to come, “—it’s not just my,” he touched his chest, pressing fingers into his sternum, “heart, or whatever you want to call it. Everything hurts because of this. I don’t,” he looked around at the others and changed tact mid-sentence.

“Maybe now isn’t the time to be talking about this,” he finally mumbled. “But I can leave you alone. If that’s what you want. You know, space. I had space, I guess, to try to deal, but I think I already told you how I feel. You know now. The other night felt right, even with you ready to murder me. Even after you’d been fucked by _Jet_ ,” his face twisted momentarily into an ugly grimace. “You should just know that I’m sorry, and I’ll do whatever you want to fix it.”

“I think that was more words than I’ve ever heard you say all at once before,” Sokka said, dumbfounded. Zuko blinked at him once, twice, and then burst into laughter. Sokka watched him laughing with a sort of detached bemusement, feeling lighter than he had in months. When Zuko finally subsided he looked down at Sokka inquiringly.

“It turns out,” Sokka said slowly, trying to parse his response out in his brain, “that I trust you with my life. But—“

“Not with the rest of you,” Zuko interrupted. “Yet.”

Sokka stayed silent. That wasn’t what he’d been about to say, but he guessed that it worked just as well. Zuko had that hopeful look in his eye again, the one that he’d tried so hard to quash before. He didn’t have that same impulse anymore. He wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or a bad one.

 

***

He hadn’t been planning a romantic night with Suki. Clearly, from Zuko’s stupefied expression, he hadn’t done a terribly good job at dispelling that notion from his mind, but hey, he’d promised her a massage and she deserved, you know, ambience or whatever.

But instead he was sitting here in just his undershorts and tunic, telling Zuko about the most painful day of his life. Zuko listened with exactly the kind of somber respect the story deserved, wincing at little at his description of the ash falling like snow and the invading soldiers’ sea raven flags.

“The Southern Raiders. Thank you, Sokka,” Zuko held his gaze for a few intense seconds before looking away, eyes catching on his notable lack of pants. “So, Suki—“ he began, obviously trying to pretend indifference.

Sokka rolled his eyes at him, “No. Well, yes, but not for sex.”

“For a friendly pantsless, candle-lit, bro talk?” Zuko arched an eyebrow.

“For a sexless, friend-only _massage_ ,” Sokka said exasperatedly. “I’m not seeing anyone else, Zuko.” He cringed at his choice of wording, “I mean, I’m not seeing anyone at all.”

“Uh huh,” Zuko said, unconvinced.

“Whatever. The point is, why did you want to know about my mom?” Sokka asked. “Just to get into Katara’s good books?”

“Something like that,” Zuko said vaguely. He was looking at Sokka strangely. “Just in case I don’t make it out again…” he gestured between them in a way that clarified none of his intentions for Sokka.

“…you want to wave goodbye?” Sokka guessed. “Katara isn’t actually going to murder you, Zuko. I mean, unless you hurt Aang again.”

“Or you,” Zuko muttered.

“Yeah. Or me,” Sokka echoed awkwardly. There was another beat of tense silence.

“I meant, though, that, like, if she or someone else _does_ kill me tomorrow,” Zuko scooted closer on the rough floor of the tent, while Sokka watched confusedly. “Can I do something very brave and very stupid?”

“If you do you might be mistaken for me,” Sokka blurted out. Zuko was very close to him now.

“I don’t think it'd such a bad thing,” Zuko whispered, tugging at the front of Sokka’s tunic, “to be like you, Sokka.” His name was a sigh.

Sokka let himself be dragged gently into Zuko’s space, knowing that Zuko was being slow to give him plenty of time to object.

The thing was that Sokka was pretty sure that the night he’d slept with Zuko, something had changed. It was like something had snapped inside of him, but instead of the aftermath of his outburst leaving him worse than before, a reservoir had broken open and all of the angry debris of the last few months were starting to drain away. With the wreckage cleaned up there were several half-formed ideas starting to coalesce in the back of his mind.

He was very scared of what they might turn out to be.

He was pretty sure he’d epically fucked up one or two things, for instance.

So maybe that was why he let Zuko reel him in, let him run light fingers across his cheekbone and under the dip of his jaw, let him cup the back of his neck. His thumb dug into the soft skin under his ear, tilting his face up so that he couldn’t do anything but stare at Zuko. His golden eyes were bright and shiny in the candlelight, but he looked resolute.

Sokka closed the distance.

“Sokka,” Zuko sighed again, but this time it was against his lips. They parted automatically, because kissing Zuko was instinct at this point, a deeply ingrained response that always felt right. Zuko’s tongue, velvety soft and hot, licking along his bottom lip, his teeth catching it gently as he pulled away… it made Sokka jerk forward to keep kissing him, and if that took Zuko by surprise he didn’t seem to question it.

Sokka grabbed him by the shoulders, hauling him closer, his hands coming up to tangle in Zuko’s hair. It was ungainly, Zuko unbalanced and half in Sokka’s lap, their legs a jumble of bent limbs that hadn’t quite slotted together. Zuko laughed softly into Sokka’s mouth, pulling away to rest his forehead against Sokka’s while he tried to disentangle them from one another. Sokka whined and held on tighter, then realized what he was doing and let go quickly.

Zuko noticed. His eyes went dark but his face stayed impassive, and he didn’t move away.

“What do you want, Sokka?” His voice was shaking.

Sokka shook his head against Zuko’s, pressing his eyes closed. He leaned in again and Zuko let himself be kissed, but when Sokka peeked his eyes were squeezed shut and his lashes looked suspiciously damp. _Shit_. He wasn't trying to hurt Zuko. He couldn’t answer Zuko because he didn’t know. That talk on Appa’s back earlier had further complicated the already confusing feelings he’d been having. Was it really true that he didn’t trust Zuko with the most vulnerable parts of himself? He had once, and that somehow…didn’t feel like a mistake.

The understanding made him break away from Zuko in wide-eyed shock, breathing hard, hand still tucked securely into Zuko’s hair. Zuko didn’t look at him, instead focusing on his lap, but Sokka could see him blinking rapidly. His voice was steady again however, “Thank you.”

“Uh, you’re welcome,” Sokka said, and his voice sounded very far away.

Zuko looked up, his face inscrutable, and stared at Sokka. Sokka didn’t know what he saw there, but whatever it was, his face lit up in a way that until recently would have unsettled him. He stood up, and Sokka craned his neck to keep his face in view.

“We’re going to talk about this,” Zuko said determinedly. Sokka nodded, feeling a little unsteady, and Zuko ducked out of the tent.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's still progress to be made, but I think Sokka is starting to realize he might have been a bit of an asshole. So that's cool :-)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I am so sorry this took so long, you guys. Luckily we are reaching that beautiful place in the story where we start to learn about the magical angst-healing power of boners. You’re welcome for that. 
> 
> But real talk, I wasn't really sure what was gonna happen in this chapter and then THIS happened and I have no regrets, cause we needed some levity and also some happy. Air that shit out, let some light in, resolve some feelings. Go team. 
> 
> 3 weeks into the semester and I'm writing fanfic at midnight on a Monday night. This bodes well.

“I’m still mad at you.”

“I’m sorry, Sokka! You know I didn’t mean it.”

“Ok, I’m not still mad at you.”

“That’s not funny!”

“Hey, I was mad at you recently enough that you are not allowed to be mad at me,” Sokka said, rubbing his arm where Katara had punched him. Zuko, passing by behind her, snorted at his logic. He glared him into submission. “You especially aren’t allowed to be mad at me, because…” he reached behind him to his conveniently places man-satchel ( _“Not_ a purse, Aang!”) and pulled out a bottle, “the Fire Lord has _so much_ booze! Yay!” He danced around in a circle of victorious celebration, bottle held aloft so that it caught the light and inadvertently set an anthill on fire.

Zuko snuffed it out, then took up a position next to Katara and assumed her exact facial expression of unimpressed disapproval.

“I dislike that you two get along now,” Sokka sighed. “It’s unfair.”

“What’s unfair?” Suki breezed by, Toph attached as always, and pulled up short to peer into Sokka’s bag, “What have we here?” She drew another bottle out far enough to read the label, and her eyebrows shot upward. She whistled, “This is some good shit. Is there a reason you haven’t opened it yet?”

“Katara and Zuko are gonna be party poopers,” Sokka pouted.

“I am _not_ —“ they said in unison, then slouched back and crossed their arms in defeat.

“Please make them stop doing that,” Toph said.

“Doing what? You can’t even see us,” Katara grumbled.

“Way to give the blind girl a complex,” Toph said, “stop doing that freaky twin mirroring thing. I can see why Sokka isn’t fucking you any more, Zuko. Musta been weird to do the boy version of his sister.”

“Let’s get drunk,” Zuko rasped, his face an alluring shade of pink, and grabbed the bottle out of Sokka’s hand as he brushed past. Sokka turned to watch him as he traveled down the garden path, uncorking the bottle with his teeth and tipping his head back to take a healthy swill.

He _may_ or may not have already had some of that himself, but regardless of his own state of sobriety, for some reason that was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen.

He made to follow Zuko, but was almost immediately accosted by Aang.

“What’s up?” he chirped. “Why does Katara look like she’s gonna kill you?”

“We’re getting drunk,” Sokka said firmly.

“Oh cool, can I join?” Aang’s eyes were practically glowing. “I’ve never been drunk before!”

“Of course you can,” he said, at the same time that Katara yelled, “Aang, you are the _Avatar_!”

“And am therefore imbued with the extra maturity, wisdom, and alcohol tolerance of my forebears,” Aang said solemnly.

“Really?” Sokka wrinkled his forehead at him. He was pretty sure his entire being conveyed the same sense of “this is some bullshit” that Suki, Toph, and Katara’s did. “I don’t know about the alcohol thing, but you did _not_ get the maturity in that Avatar soul swap or, like, Katara, how does it work again?” He turned to ask her, but she was locked in some kind of silence struggle with Aang. He wasn’t sure how either of them could win when all they were doing was looking meaningfully into each other’s eyes, but then again he couldn’t judge. The dude he’d proven himself to be unsuccessful at communicating with was currently getting shitfaced alone in his estranged father’s topiary garden. That was a lot of levels of dysfunctional and quite frankly he was functioning at too diminished a capacity to think about it.

Apparently Aang won, because before Sokka knew what had happened the rest of them were crowding around his bag, jostling for the best booze.

“So I’m just gonna…” he hooked a thumb back to indicate the direction of the garden, and when everyone continued to ignore him he turned tail and practically ran.

“Zuko?” he whisper-called through the rows of weird hedge-things. “Zuuuukkkoooo…?”

“I’m here,” came the familiar rasp. It sounded wryly amused, but still steady.

“We have to fix your drunkenness,” Sokka said, stepping around a bush shaped like some dude blasting another dude with a fireball. Cheerful.

“How? I’m not drunk yet,” Zuko said, palming the bottle. He was gouging long scratches in the label with his thumbnails, concentrating down on the foil like it was real gold.

“Exactly! Your inebriation is paramount to my plans for the evening!” Sokka held up a finger to indicate that it was time for Zuko’s edification.

“I don’t think that was correct sentence construction,” Zuko said, obviously trying to keep a straight face. “Are you sure you used ‘paramount’ correctly?”

“Fuck you,” Sokka whined, and flopped on the bench next to him.

“Yeah?” Zuko grinned over at him, then handed him the bottle. “That in your plans for the evening?”

“Maybe,” Sokka shrugged, then took a gulp. It felt good going down, smoky and burny and sort of like how he figured it would feel if Zuko blew fire down his throat. He liked it.

“We haven’t talked yet,” Zuko pointed out.

“Talking is overrated,” Sokka groaned.

“You never shut up,” Zuko said.

“Whatever, I do sometimes,” Sokka said.

“Sokka,” Zuko turned to look at him.

“No!” Sokka said, standing up to tower over _him_ for once. _Stupid tall people_ , he complained to himself. “Zuko, I am so tired of thinking about shit, and talking about it, and it’s just dumb, ok? We’ve had so many fucking talks and angsty glaring and conflicted making out and really really great badly-timed sex, can we just, like,” he gestured around and remembered the open bottle in his hand. He thrust it at Zuko, “drink? Can we just get really really drunk and talk when we’re hungover and miserable and saying exactly what we mean cause we don’t have the will to lie? Please?”

“Um,” Zuko accepted the bottle back. “How much of this have you already had?”

“Enough to be warm and glowy,” Sokka said happily. “Do you accept my proposal, Fire Prince Zuko?”

“I….” Zuko stared up at him, then his mouth snapped shut and he nodded once, tight and determined.

“Oh thank fuck,” Sokka collapsed forward onto him, letting Zuko catch him. “You always catch me,” he sighed into his neck.

“You caught me last time,” Zuko said confusedly, spitting a little to get Sokka’s hair out of his mouth.

“Yeah, I did,” Sokka rolled off of him and back onto his side of the bench. “I’m really fucking brave.”

“I know,” Zuko said quietly. Sokka looked over at him. Zuko was looking at him from under his eyelashes, all coy and shy like he was a fucking schoolgirl.

“Oh drink your liquor, we aren’t drunk enough for your shit,” he complained, and Zuko laughed at him but obeyed.

 

***

Toph and Suki were off somewhere in the darkness singing an off-key version of an Earth Kingdom love song. It sounded as though the lovers in question were being kept apart by the quite literal enormous boulder in their path, and that the crux of the plot centered on Earthbending for love. Sokka felt very dubious about the entire thing.

He did not feel dubious about suddenly cuddly Zuko. He was all for cuddly Zuko. Alcohol had been an excellent idea.

“Soookkkkaaaa…?” Zuko draped himself across Sokka from behind, his preternaturally warm chest a solid wall of heat protecting him against the evening air. It never really got _cold_ in the Fire Nation, but once the sun went down the temperature definitely dropped accordingly.

“Mmm?” Sokka hummed back, twisting in Zuko’s arms to peer up into his face. He was flushed, and although his eyes were a bit glassy, he looked remarkably focused. “You’re so pretty,” Zuko whispered.

Sokka couldn’t help but sort of laugh in his face. Zuko’s lower lip jutted out in an unmistakable pout and yeah, wow, ok maybe Zuko hadn’t been joking the other day about pouting, because it looked pretty natural on him. Sokka also kind of wanted to reach up and grab that lip with his own, cause Zuko’s mouth was slick and pink and just the tiniest bit puffy from the neck of the bottle sliding against it. Plus Sokka had reached the point where his lips were a little numb and he wondered how that would feel.

“’S a good thing,” Zuko muttered, trying to pull away, but Sokka grabbed onto his arms to keep him in place.

“I know, babe,” Sokka said, hardly even slurring—he was so proud of himself.

“Not your babe,” Zuko grouched, slumping further forward and sticking his face into the crook of Sokka’s neck.

Sokka bit his own tongue, hard. Because _yikes_. The first thing his brain had supplied as a response to that was, “Aren’t you?” which might go about giving Zuko the wrong impression.

 _What wrong impression?_ Sokka thought, frowning a little. _Isn’t that where this is all going anyway?_ The thought walloped him over the head like one of Katara’s snowballs and he sort of couldn’t breathe, but also he was sort of just breathing for the first time in months and Zuko was still on him and it was both a good thing—no, a _great_ , beautiful, magical, excellent thing—and also, like, they needed to be facing each other.

“Zuko? Zuko get off me.”

“Wha—?” Zuko shuffled to the side, turning and flopping sideways inelegantly so that he slid down Sokka’s side and landed on his elbow on the bench next to him. “Wassa matter?”

“Zuko,” Sokka looked at him dead on and suddenly he felt really fucking sober. “I think it’s time for that talk.”

“Noooww?” Zuko rolled over properly onto his back, although the position looked supremely uncomfortable to Sokka.

“Yes. Now,” Sokka swallowed around his suddenly dry mouth, and reached down to take a fortifying sip from the bottle. “We’re getting back together,” he told the bottle earnestly.

“We are?” Zuko sat up so quickly that he got disoriented, reeling back and then forward like he was swimming through the air, and Sokka caught at his shoulder to make sure he didn’t fall.

“Yeah. I mean, if that’s what you want,” Sokka said, unable to meet Zuko’s eye. He focused on the center of his chest, since he was now sitting backwards on the bench next to him.

“Thas ‘ll I everrr wanted,” Zuko slurred, hand landing high on Sokka’s thigh to steady himself. “Bu…” Zuko trailed off then collected himself, obviously grasping hard at the thread of the sentence, “why’s now the time for talk about it?”

“That was poor sentence construction,” Sokka told him seriously, and Zuko burst into laughter, the raucous, rusty kind Sokka had only heard once before. It took him back to so long ago, to a dark alley where Zuko was pushed up against a wall and Sokka had a hand slid under his shirt, fingers splayed out across his ribcage. “It’s now, cause I just realized how inevitable it was, ya know?” Sokka shook his head at himself. “I’m an idiot,” he said quietly.

“No, no you’re not,” Zuko’s hand tightened on his thigh.

“I am,” Sokka took another sip from the bottle. “I just—I really loved you, right?” he dared a glance at Zuko. His lids were drooping a little, but he was definitely present and staring at Sokka like he hadn’t seen him for years. “Yeah. I really loved you. And I thought you loved me. And then you threw it away. You fucked it up. And maybe I fucked up too, for thinking that I was gonna be enough for you when you were so confused and messed up. But I wanted to be. And you betrayed me, and I hurt so much and _I_ was confused, and Jet was there, and…” he scrubbed a hand over his face. Zuko leaned forward heavily and rested his cheek on his shoulder, hand rubbing idly at his leg.

“The thing is that I still love you. So. I was lying to myself. Well, partly,” he mused. “I didn’t trust you after. Except that deep down I think I still did. I trusted you with my life at the Boiling Rock, and then with my, like,” he held his hands out in a cupping motion, “heart or whatever. I trust you with that.”

He sat there for a second, thinking back over his words. That all seemed about right. He hadn’t said it very nicely maybe, but that was all of it.

“’S good,” Zuko mumbled, turning to rest his chin on Sokka’s shoulder. “Real good, missed you s’ much.”

“Miss you too,” Sokka said, resting a hand on Zuko’s head, holding it against his shoulder. He stared off in the direction of the beach, the moonlight glinting off the waves like another night staring at a different stretch of water, but this time the ground was steady under his feet (relatively, he knew he was still pretty drunk), and the boy next to him was the right one.

And also was drooling on him. And snoring softly.

“K, let’s get you to bed,” Sokka smiled, reaching down to loop his arms under Zuko’s armpits. He half-dragged, half-carried him to the first bed he could find, heaved him up onto the mattress, then collapsed right onto it next to him, suddenly bone-weary.

He slept the best he’d slept in months.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For real, did Sokka use “paramount” correctly? One of you has to be an English major. Help me, I've been learning about ctenophora for a week and words not in latin don't make sense anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long! Are you all still hanging in there? I promise I won’t torture you with this much longer… it’s almost over. And then if people don’t have anything in particular that they want, maybe we’ll take a hiatus? Idk guys, I’ve written like 8 Zukka fics, I need some inspiration.
> 
> All that being said, I really hope you like this one. It's been forever in the making, but hopefully worth the wait. Warning for snuggling, feels, and sex. You know, the usual.

Sokka rarely woke up incrementally. That wasn’t to say he was a morning person, because he definitely wasn’t, but usually he came awake all at once and was immediately unhappy with whoever had woken him.

This morning was different.

For one thing he was comfortably warm. Not too hot like when they’d been living in the sticky bowels of the Fire Nation battleship and he’d woken to a knot of drenched sheets twisted at the bottom of his bed. A gentle, pleasant warmth. He burrowed further into it, tucking his face into something silky and soft.

For another, he was floating in a dreamy in-between place, not quite awake, no longer asleep, and he was wrapped tightly around something that was molded to his body. It was anchoring him to the bed, to this strangely peaceful moment. When he cracked his eyelids enough to let light seep in he knew it was early—that was watery dawn light falling through the window.

The peace didn’t last.

“Mprmph.”

Sokka froze. The warm, soft thing he was wrapped around was another human being. Another human being that had just made a weird, sleepy, grunty noise and snuggled back into him.

He took stock of the situation. His face was buried in black hair, and the ass pressed back against him was undeniably familiar. Bits and pieces of last night were filtering down to him, sinking through the fine sheen of contentment to land with unexpected weight.

He felt a smile creep across his face. He was rapidly becoming pretty goddamn sure that he’d gotten back together with Zuko last night. Which was an unqualified positive in his life, he decided.

So now was he supposed to just lie here or was it too much of a dick move to wake Zuko up for some making out? He was probably going to be hungover, so there was that, and his mouth was most likely going to taste like an ashtray (because firebenders had weird morning breath), but still—worth it?

Zuko took the decision away from him by rolling over unexpectedly and shoving his face into Sokka’s chest. Sokka held his breath.

Hands, unsteady from sleep but unhesitating, drifted up his sides, pushing under his shirt to trace down his ribs and over his stomach. Zuko slung his leg up over Sokka’s thigh, face still obscured, and used it to hitch him closer.

“Zuko?” Sokka gasped, because his hands were questing even lower now, and Sokka hadn’t been hard, but sure, he could get with the program.

“Sokka,” Zuko mumbled, but… that was not the voice of an _awake_ person.

“Shit,” Sokka rolled away, grabbing at Zuko’s hands before they could do more than unsuccessfully fumble with the drawstrings of his pants. He peered down in Zuko’s face, and sure enough his eyes were still closed. He reached down and laid a hand across Zuko’s cheek, his fluttering lashes brushing the top of his thumb.

“Sokka,” Zuko moaned a little louder, reaching out blindly, but his voice was very clearly anguished now.

“Zuko, Zuko, I’m here,” Sokka wrapped him in his arms, hoping that would make the bad dream go away. _The bad sex dream?_ _Only you, Zuko._

“Sokka?” Zuko’s groggy voice sounded more alert now. He peeled himself out of Sokka’s arms and blinked up at him, knees knocking against Sokka’s shins as he shuffled back on the bed. Then his eyes went very, very wide. “Oh shit!” he yelped, shoving at Sokka’s chest. He rocketed backward out of the bed, hit the floor rolling, and fetched up against the opposite wall, looking horrified. “I’m so sorry, Sokka, I didn’t mean to—“ he looked frantically around the room, taking in the mussed bed and Sokka’s confusion. “We were drunk, I swear to god I didn’t mean to take advantage of you, I respect your, you know, boundaries, I don’t remember, but if I—“

Now it was Sokka’s turn to spring up out of the bed. He landed more gracefully than Zuko for once, but it was more luck than coordination. He had a decidedly not-good feeling about this.

“You don’t remember last night,” he said. Half of him wanted to laugh, the other half was grappling with unpleasant emotions too complicated to be expressed through anything other than tears. _Tears bad_ , he decided.

Zuko shook his head.

“We didn’t sleep together,” Sokka clarified. Zuko slumped in relief. Sokka tried not to be offended. “But, um…”

“What? What did I do?” Zuko groaned. He looked prophylactically mortified.

“You didn’t do anything!” Sokka shook his head, suddenly completely unsure how the hell to go about this. “Nothing happened! We just slept in the same bed. We were both really drunk.” _And I think I maybe declared my undying love for you. No big deal_.

“Ok, good,” Zuko wrapped his arms protectively around his bare chest, like he was trying to shield himself from Sokka. “I’ll just—sorry.” And then he darted out of the room before Sokka could say anything else.

 

***

“How do I break the news to Zuko?” Sokka asked Suki.

“You two are so dumb,” she said, interspersing each word with a drink of water. She’d recoiled so violently when he banged into her bedroom at 8 in the morning for advice that he’d felt compelled to leave and only return once he had breakfast for them both. “You got back together. That’s all that Zuko’s wanted for, like, forever. Just go tell him.”

“Well now I have to go and do it _right_ ,” Sokka protested. “I was all heartfelt and drunk last night, and now that I’m sober it feels so much harder.”

“You aren’t proposing to him,” Suki said. “Or telling him you’re pregnant. There’s nothing hard about this information. You had a drunken epiphany. It happens to the best of us.”

“You’re so unhelpful,” Sokka glared.

“Sure,” she rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t take my perfectly reasonable advice that you came here looking for. I wouldn’t know. I’m just your ex-girlfriend. I have no practice with the Sokka experience.”

“I’m an ‘experience’?” Sokka asked, unsure whether to be disturbed or flattered.

“That you are,” she shook her head ruefully and finished the water. “How are you not hungover right now?”

“Too much anxiety,” Sokka practically bounced off of her bed. “I think I have to go find him. No time for a plan!”

“Well those are words I never though I’d hear come out of your mouth,” Suki snorted. “Thanks for the eggs. Go get your man.”

 

***

It would be way easier to go get his man if his man could be found. After searching every parlor, bedroom, and garden he could find, he sat down on the path to the beach to think.

 _Foom_ a fireball soared over his head and he yelped, falling backward into the bushes. He was immediately on his feet, running in the direction of the fire. _Ah, how things have changed_ , he thought wryly, skidding to a halt in the loose sand.

“Sokka!” Aang bounced up to him, looking apologetic. “That one got away from me—are you ok?”

“Aang!” Sokka bent over, still breathing a little hard from fright and exertion. “Is Zuko with you?”

“No,” Aang furrowed his brow, looking back toward the house. “He was for a while, but he said he was too worked up to center himself. I think he went back to the house for a bath, but—Sokka?”

Sokka was already halfway back to the path, kicking up sand in his wake.

“I hope you find him!” Aang crouched back into his firebending stance. “Kids these days,” he shook his head.

 

***

 

Zuko’s headache was thankfully dissipating. He sank down further into the hot water, closing his eyes and trying to breath. He had no idea what was happening in his life right now, but at least the bathhouse was mercifully quiet and empty.

_Bam!_

Or not. His eyes flew open and he sat up, sloshing water out of the sunken tub and onto the slick tile.

“Zuko?” Sokka came sliding into view, looking frantic. He cast around wildly, eyes bouncing from tub to tub until they found him, frozen and confused, in the last one.

“Sokka? Wha—?” but Sokka was already upon him, splashing noisily into the water and flinging himself across Zuko’s lap.

“You don’t remember, but the thing is, we got back together, and I really love you, ok? AndIfuckedupbutyoufuckedupbutIdon’tcareandIswearitallsoundedreallynicelastnightbutyouweredrunk,” all came out in a rush, and then Sokka was kissing him.

It took him a few seconds to put everything together enough to kiss back, and by then Sokka had pulled away, looking dejected.

“Could you, uh,” Zuko reached up, cupping Sokka’s cheek in his hand, because apparently he was allowed to do that now? “Could you say that again? Slower?”

Sokka flushed and ducked his head, “That speech was way better drunk.”

“I seriously doubt it,” Zuko said, letting a smile start to creep across his face. “You probably just _thought_ it sounded better.”

“Ok, well, yeah,” Sokka huffed, “but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t.”

“I’m not complaining,” Zuko said, “besides the fact that I had to go through this morning thinking that I’d violated you.”

“Sorry about that,” Sokka rested his forehead on Zuko’s shoulder, letting his hands coast all over Zuko’s chest and back. Zuko closed his eyes, reveling in it. He wanted Sokka to never stop touching him again. “I wasn’t sure how to break it to you the second time around.”

“This works,” Zuko whispered. “Even though you’re a little…” he plucked at Sokka’s soaked clothes.

“Oops,” Sokka said, but he didn’t sound even a little bit regretful. He grinned up at Zuko. “Help me take them off?”

Zuko didn’t trust his voice not to shake so he nodded, fighting with the sodden ties.

“Just burn them off,” Sokka said impatiently, squirming in Zuko’s lap.

“Be patient,” Zuko worked the cloth free from itself and pushed the tunic off Sokka’s shoulders, “you like this shirt.”

“I like being naked more,” Sokka griped, wriggling out of Zuko’s lap to yank his pants off. He swayed on one leg and then toppled over, splashing Zuko. He came back up sputtering but devoid of pants, and clambered unceremoniously back on top of Zuko.

“Better?” Zuko rubbed the water out of his eyes and grinned.

“Yup,” Sokka nodded. “Now kiss me back this time, you asshole.”

“As long as I have permission,” Zuko said.

“You do,” Sokka said, leaning in. Zuko met him halfway, wrapping his hand around the back of his neck to anchor him in place so that he could tease his lips apart. Sokka parted them with little prompting, and Zuko deepened the kiss, finally licking into his mouth. Gods, he’d missed kissing Sokka. It was half fight, half comfort, Sokka up on his knees, pressing him back against the wall of the tub, hands knotted in his hair. His tongue slid into his mouth gently, at odds with the way he was gasping against Zuko’s mouth, kissing him like he couldn’t get enough.

Zuko held on for dear life, hands grabbing onto Sokka’s ass, fingers just brushing the cleft of it. Sokka arched back into his touch, moaning, the vibrations rattling through Zuko dizzyingly. Did Sokka want…? He pulled him apart a little, pushing deeper, fingertips brushing across a ring of muscle, but he froze when Sokka trembled against him.

“Do you…” he pulled away, shaking his wet hair out of his face. Sokka stared down at him, his lips plush and shining, his pupils blown huge. He nodded hard, bobbing back and forth in the water.

“There’s gotta be something,” he muttered, leaning up over Zuko to rummage through the bath products on the ledge above the tub. Zuko bit lightly at his nipple as it passed by, earning himself a squawk and a swat to the head. He chuckled, lathing his tongue across it until it peaked and Sokka responded, chasing his mouth when he tried to pull away.

“A ha!” he said breathlessly a second later, sinking back into the water with a bottle of oil. “You know what to do?” he said skeptically, and then yelled when Zuko burned him. “Hey!” he rubbed at his chest.

“If you can do it, I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Zuko said, then licked across the burn. Sokka hissed, his ass clenching under Zuko’s palms, and shoved the oil back into his hand. He uncapped it sloppily, trying to account for the water and a lap full of impatient water tribesman. It spilled a little, iridescent globes dancing across the water and catching the light. Sokka bit his lip as Zuko slid a slick finger into him, almost surprised by the lack of resistance. Sokka’d done this before, of course, with Jet on at least two occasions, and that one time with him, but this was so much more intimate. The only sound in the room was the quiet lapping of water and Sokka’s hitching breath when Zuko eased another finger in.

He twisted them, scissoring them until Sokka moaned and scraped his teeth threateningly across his shoulder. “Fuck me already,” he grumbled, rolling his hips so that his cock slid alongside Zuko’s. Zuko had almost forgotten about himself, much too interested in the way Sokka responded when he thrust his fingers deep and crooked them. Sokka whined, cursing Zuko vociferously until Zuko cut him off with a kiss.

“I’m ready, just, gods,” Sokka raked nails down his chest, pitching his hips back into Zuko’s hands again. “Fuck me already.”

“How do you want it?” he asked, cocking his eyebrow at him. He prayed that if he could just project as much confidence as he _didn’t_ feel, Sokka wouldn’t notice how fast his heart was beating. He wanted him more than he’d ever thought he could want anything, worse than when they were in Ba Sing Se or at the Air Temple, so acute it was almost painful. It was like the intervening months had intensified everything, made this moment all the more precious.

It would be easier to enjoy if Sokka wasn’t rolling his eyes at him, “Just stick it in.”

Zuko glared and retaliated by rubbing hard on his prostate. He was gratified when Sokka’s eyes rolled back in his head, toes curling, and he panted, “Ok fine, let me ride you.”

Zuko felt his own eyes widen, but he didn’t complain as Sokka scooted forward and propped his cock up. He moaned when Zuko pulled his fingers out, but then he was sinking onto Zuko’s dick, and _wow_.

Zuko let out a strangled noise that was more than matched by Sokka’s wail. His nails scored his chest again, then bit hard into his shoulders as Sokka steadied himself. He leaned forward and kissed Zuko again, long and dragging and deep, and Zuko thrust up into him, hands spreading him apart and lifting him up to fuck him back down harder. Sokka clung to him, hissing as Zuko bit his lip, again when he broke away to lick punishingly at his burn.

Zuko wished he could see it, where he was disappearing over and over again into Sokka, but his fingers traced it, and Sokka rocked into them. Zuko’s finger, still slippery with oil, slid in alongside his dick, impossibly hot and tight. Sokka gasped, stilling for a second to adjust. Then his eyes met Zuko’s and he looked _wrecked_ , eyes wide and glassy, cheeks red from steam and sex, hair wet and mussed. Zuko kissed him, wiggling his finger and rocking his hips, and Sokka went wild, slamming himself down desperately, trying to get Zuko deeper.

Zuko tried to keep up, but he was drowning in it, the slap of the water on tile, the sound of Sokka moaning, the wet heat of Sokka’s body sucking him in until he was coming on a broken sob. He pressed his forehead to Sokka’s chest, sucking in ragged breaths, pulling his finger free again to take hold of Sokka’s cock. He was still a little hard, and Sokka kept going as he jerked him through it, watching through heavy lids as Sokka rode him. He looked strung out, well and truly fucked, and when he came he screamed, the sound reverberating around the room.

He folded forward into Zuko’s arms, and Zuko did his best to cradle him even though every one of his limbs felt like lead. Eventually Sokka rolled off of him, flopping down on the bench next to him and immediately tucking himself under Zuko’s arm.

He traced around Zuko’s nipple with one finger, bottom lip caught between his teeth. Zuko watched him lazily, stroked a hand across his hair, kissed his forehead. It felt good just to touch in little ways too, the brush of Sokka’s lips on his collarbone, the press of their thighs to one another.

“Thank you,” he finally whispered. He winced at his voice; it was raw and gravelly, deeper than usual. Sokka looked up and there was fresh heat in his gaze. “What?”

“Nothing,” Sokka smiled shyly, “I just love your voice.”

“Really?” Zuko said, baffled. “If you say so.”

Sokka pressed his lips to the hinge of his jaw, “I love all of you.” Then he pulled back and smacked a hand to his face, groaning dramatically, “That was the worst thing that has ever come out of my mouth.”

“I was ok with it,” Zuko shrugged.

“Yeah, but you’re a fucking dork,” Sokka pointed out. “Your opinion is invalid.”

“Says the guy who got all into my _voice_ ,” Zuko protested.

“You have a very sexy voice and you know it,” Sokka pouted.

“Sure,” Zuko said dubiously, tugging Sokka back into his lap. “Whatever you say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just realized this chapter is literally the length of most stand alone stories. I must be stopped. 
> 
> You know where to find [me](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com/).


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The end! Thanks to everyone for reading. I’ll probably keep working on the ficlets for All in Good Time, but I only have one other short Zukka fic planned right now. So that’s where you come in—send me prompts on [tumblr](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com/) (I accept anonymous asks), cause spring break is coming up and I’ll have more time to write!
> 
> P.S. This one was Beta-ed! YAY!!! Thanks to E for being so absolutely amazing. I definitely owe you a fic <3

It was over. Zuko was the most bone-weary exhausted that he had ever been, but it was _over_.

The question of where the hell Sokka had gotten to had suddenly shot to most important concern of the moment. It was also becoming harder and harder to answer, because he was currently being supported back to his chambers by a pair of very irate women.

“Why you thought a party would be a good idea,” Katara shook her head at him.

“I agree,” Mai said stiffly, “It’s not like you’ve ever been any good at joyous celebration anyway.”

Katara laughed, and the corner of Mai’s mouth twitched. Zuko glared at both of them. “If you two become friends I give up,” he grumbled. “You can have Ozai back. I’m moving to the Crescent Isles to raise bumblebee-sheep and forget about civilization.”

They dissolved into giggles, and he tried to maintain both his dignity and balance as both of them shook under his weight.

“I’ve never seen Mai look this cheerful,” he said to Katara. “I don’t like it.”

Mai swatted him across the back of the head fondly, then ducked out from under his arm to glide over to his guards. They seemed oddly resistant to opening the doors, but when they saw him slumped over Katara’s shoulders they stepped aside.

“Oh for the love of—“ Mai jumped back through the doorway and turned to stare flatly at Zuko before stalking off down the hallway.

“What is she…?” Katara watched her storm away before shuffling over to the door and peering through. Zuko craned his own neck and saw the source of her annoyance.

“I didn’t know _she_ was gonna be the first person through the door!” Sokka struggled up from Zuko’s bed, which was strewn with rose petals and artfully arranged pillows. They were all tugged to one end, as Sokka had evidently yanked the bedspread over himself just in time for Mai to arrive. He was obviously naked, one of his legs jutting out over the top of the covers, bound tightly in a cast.

It was Zuko’s turn to slip out of Katara’s arms and sprawl on the stone floor, gasping laughs tearing free from his chest. Katara bent over him, obviously concerned, and there was the sound of swearing as Sokka freed himself from the bedclothes and hobbled over too.

“I think you broke him,” Katara said, laying her hands across Zuko’s heaving chest.

“I didn’t mean to!” Sokka yelped. “I was just trying to plan a romantic surprise!”

“Maybe leave that to other people,” Katara said, standing up and grabbing Zuko under the armpits. “Help me get him up on the bed. And oh my gods,” she flinched back from her brother, “put some pants on, what is _wrong_ with you?”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting you, either!” Sokka said, covering himself hastily with his bands. He looked so ludicrous that it sent Zuko off into a fresh peal of laughter.

“I am very much concerned,” Sokka said, fighting his way into his underwear so that he could help his sister heft Zuko onto the mattress.

He collapsed onto it wheezing, and waved a hand at Katara when she tried to delve his chest wound again. “I’m fine,” he gasped. “Really.”

“If you’re sure,” she said dubiously. “Behave yourself,” she pointed at her brother and then retreated.

“When do I not behave?” Sokka asked indignantly, already wrestling his underwear back off again. “I am very well behaved.”

“Sokka, I’m not even sure you’re house trained,” Zuko choked out.

“Like you’d know,” Sokka said, moving on to fight with the clasps of Zuko’s ceremonial robes, “Mr. Fire Lord, sir.”

“Fire Lord is quite enough,” Zuko said haughtily, ruining the effect by smiling up at him.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Sokka said, peeling him out of the first layer. “So,” he said quietly, “what happens now?”

“What do you mean?” Zuko lay very still, his chest tight, enjoying the gentle press of Sokka’s hands through his clothes.

“Well you’re the Fire Lord,” Sokka said cautiously, “and you’re going to need to have a Fire Queen, or whatever the hell they call it. You’re gonna need babies and stuff, and probably everyone is going to expect you to marry a Fire national. Which makes sense—you can’t lead your people if your loyalties are divided, so…”

“Sokka, what are you saying?” Zuko batted his hands away as they reached his last layer, just a thin silk tunic between his skin and Sokka’s.

“Just that I get it if you decide that someone else, like, maybe Mai—“

“I’m not getting back together with Mai,” Zuko interrupted. “Hell, I just got back together with _you_ , what makes you think I’m gonna fuck that up right away?”

“The Fire Nation is really important to you—“

“Yeah, and _you’re_ really important to me,” Zuko said. “I don’t care about any of the rest of that. There are some considerations—I can’t lie to you about that, but I’m hardly the first Fire Lord with a boyfriend. Or even, you know,” he blushed, “a husband.”

“Oh,” Sokka went back to unbuttoning Zuko’s tunic. “Let’s not think about marriage any time soon,” he said lightly, “but it’s cool that we can do this thing.”

“This ‘thing’?” Zuko poked him in the side to make him wriggle. “You mean your undying love for me?”

“Oh fuck off,” Sokka pushed at him until he grumpily rolled over to let Sokka pull the robes out from under him. When he rolled back Sokka was staring at his chest.

“What?” he glanced down at the vivid red mark on his chest. It was ragged around the edges, the center a dark, angry purple. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” he whispered, knowing that Sokka would see through the lie.

“I hate her,” Sokka said, tracing fingers feather light across the pale skin around its edges.

“Don’t say that,” Zuko said. “You don’t have enough rage to really hate anyone.”

“I hate your father,” Sokka said suddenly, looking up and into Zuko’s eyes. There was an unfamiliar ferocity in them that rather than being frightening somehow made Zuko’s heart unclench.

“Don’t hate anyone for me,” Zuko mumbled, reaching up to thread fingers into Sokka’s hair.

“Too late,” Sokka said, leaning down to press his forehead to Zuko’s shoulder. “I hate how they hurt you.”

“It’s ok,” Zuko said, “I have a new family now.”

“Yeah, you do,” Zuko could feel Sokka grinning against him. “All right, about these injuries,” he gestured down the length of both of their bodies. “How are we gonna fuck?”

“You are such a romantic,” Zuko deadpanned. “I guess you’re just going to have to control yourself in my presence,” he said primly.

“We all know that’s never going to happen,” Sokka licked across his collarbone. He shuddered, hand tightening in Sokka’s hair.

“Ok, you’re gonna have to be very gentle,” Zuko amended.

Sokka sat up and surveyed him critically, one finger tapping arhythmically at his chin. “Can you get your knees up?” he finally asked.

Zuko groaned, “What are you thinking, Sokka?”

“Well,” Sokka grinned evilly, “I was thinking about eating you out and then coming on your face. But that doesn’t _have_ to happen.”

Zuko licked his lips. His mouth was suddenly very dry. “There’s something wrong with you,” he said, voice cracking. “How are you even gonna get up here to, to—“

“You ruin my dreams,” Sokka pouted, wriggling down the bed to lie between Zuko’s thighs. “Fine. I’ll just eat you out and give you a hand job and be _sad_.”

“That all sounds fine to me,” Zuko said. “Finally give you the opportunity to know what it’s like to be me.”

“Sad and sexually frustrated?” Sokka bit the inside of his thigh and laughed when he yelped, “Yeah, that sounds about right. Lift your hips up—I can’t do all the work.” Zuko obeyed, his battered muscle straining while Sokka shoved a pillow under his ass and bent his knees, spreading his legs apart carefully. “Comfy?” he stroked down Zuko’s thigh.

Zuko nodded. He could get used to this tender, thoughtful Sokka. It made a nice change of pace from the surreptitious quickies they used to sneak in wherever the opportunity presented itself.

He shouldn’t have expected the consideration to last long. Approximately five seconds later he jolted up like he’d been struck with another bolt of lightning, because Sokka had licked right into him with no warning whatsoever. He held his hips down with one hand, stopping him from shoving back onto his face, from fucking himself on Sokka’s tongue. It stabbed into his ruthlessly; yanking sounds out of him that he didn’t know he was capable of making. Sokka pulled back every once in a while to breathe, sucking dark purple bruises on his inner thighs, making him squirm and beg.

By the time he was done it only took a couple of jerks of his hand to push him over the edge, Sokka licking him through it the whole time. He was probably wet and open, practically aching with wanting Sokka inside him, but Sokka didn’t oblige, crawling up his body to prop himself awkwardly up on one knee, his hand clenched hard to the headboard. Zuko licked his lips as Sokka took hold of his cock, head falling forward, eyes fixed predatorily on Zuko’s face. If he couldn’t get his in him, maybe he could convince him to let him suck his cock, but when he tried to sit up, Sokka shoved him back to the pillows.

“You’re _injured_ ,” he said bossily, hand returning to his dick to stroke faster, harder. Zuko only had a split second warning to close his eyes before Sokka was coming, splashing across his cheeks and mouth. When he opened them again he sucked his own bottom lip into his mouth, tasting Sokka, who was staring at him, dumbfounded. Zuko was already completely hard again, surprised that _this_ of all things was such a turn on.

“Whoa,” Sokka said, skimming a finger through the mess on Zuko’s cheekbone and sliding his finger into Zuko’s mouth. He twirled his tongue around Sokka’s finger, pulling it deeper. “I should, um,” he gestured weakly down at Zuko’s dick.

“Nah, later,” Zuko shoved at him halfheartedly until he moved to lay next to him, wincing as he took weight off of his broken leg.

“I forgot about that,” Sokka laid a hand on his cast. “I got a little caught up.”

“Oh really?” Zuko said dryly. “You’re gonna have to get up, cause somehow _I’m_ the one who ended up covered in cum.”

“Ew,” Sokka wrinkled his nose at him.

“Ew?” Zuko shoved him, “’Ew’ from the guy who just defiled me?”

“Defiled is such a strong word,” Sokka grumbled, sitting up to fish around at the foot of the bed. “Here,” he sponged the mess from Zuko’s abdomen with his undershirt, “a royal silk rag for His Highness Fire Lord Jerkbender.”

“That was a nice tunic,” Zuko said. Sokka swiped across his cheekbone carefully, dabbing at the bottom edge of his scar. “I’m more scar than person at this point,” he muttered, catching the tunic and crumpling it in his hand.

He wasn’t expecting Sokka to grab hold of his face and haul him around with so much vehemence, but suddenly he was staring down one seriously pissed off tribesman. “You are fucking _beautiful_ , you asshole,” he hissed. “Your scars are sexy and majestic and show what a brave man you are, and if you ever say anything bad about them within my hearing ever again, I swear to Yue, I will give you one in a place where you will _never_ forget who gave it to you.”

“Holy shit,” Zuko said, mind going blank but for the part of him that was oddly shamed by how hot Sokka was making him. “I think I need you to suck my dick after all.”

“That’s more like it,” Sokka traced the bottom of Zuko’s scar proprietarily with his lips before sliding down his body. “All that lovey shit was bound to turn you on.”

Zuko’s laugh trailed off into a moan, but _Damn_ , he thought as Sokka wrapped his mouth around him, _this was worth the wait._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how to express accurately just how much I appreciate all of the support and comments and kudos and overall excellence of all the people who read all the stuff I write. I'm not fucking around when I say that I would genuinely love to hear from you on [tumblr](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> So until next time *salutes and wanders off toward the snack bar*

**Author's Note:**

> Do you guys know that Avatar wiki that includes complete transcripts of every episode? I love whoever runs it. Give em a kiss and a slap on the ass for me. They deserve it, champ. 
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. I know I keep promising, but maybe this will actually be the year I get a tumblr? 2016 resolutions.
> 
> Update: I have a [tumblr](http://omgbeersforqueers.tumblr.com/) now? I don't know how this works. You follow me and I follow you and we become super geeky friends? There's nothing there right now but please ask me questions and just, like, help me figure this out because you're all lovely people.


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